A couple of decent local patch visits on 19th June and 2nd July were followed by a visit to Southfield Reservoir for one of the visiting Caspian Terns on the 2nd also.
The following is what i saw:
19th June
Winter's was lively as usual at this time of year,with the summer goose flock building in numbers.Today 201 Greylags and 11 Canada Geese held 4 Greylag x Canada hybrids also.
Two Cetti's Warbler were also making themselves heard as always and 4 Little Egret fed around the margins with occasional fall-outs between the birds as to who had the best fishing spot.
A walk along the mitigation area saw the welcome sight of 3 pairs of Lapwings with chicks,each having two,which is pretty good after the recent wet weather.
The Skitter area was fairly quiet,as it often is at this time of year,but it was nice to see 2 Kestrel chicks at almost fledging stage.
Goxhill Marsh held the usual suspects,with 6 juvenile Bearded Tit giving some nice scope views and the fantastic news that at least 1 pair of Cetti's have successfully bred,with a fledged juv. being seen with its attendant parents.
A lovely female Roe Deer was watched with a gorgeous fawn near to Dawson City and were a real pleasure to watch as they walked along a nearby hedgerow.
It was also great to see my first Large Skipper of the year today,but numbers are certainly down compared to previous years.
2nd July
More breeding successes on the patch today,with the Winter's pair of Mute Swans being seen with 7 newly hatched cygnets,a really nice sight to see and the first time i have seen them on here with young.
A walk along the Mitigation area up to the Skitter revealed some decent numbers of Butterflies,2 Small Skipper were the first records of the year,with 25 Meadow Brown and 14 Small Heath being recorded also and the first Lesser-marsh Grasshoppers of the year entered the notes also.
A surprise along the sea wall as i walked back to Winter's,was a single Whimbrel,it was an adult and may have summered here or was a pretty early returning failed breeding bird.
After hearing that at least 1 Caspian Tern was still visiting Southfield Reservoir not far from Thorne Moors, i made my way over to make my first visit here.
On arrival the bird had sadly flown off,but it wasn't too long a wait before it was back again and it gave some great views through the scope,catching a fairly large Silver Bream and quickly eating it in flight as a Black-headed Gull chased it.
This monster Sterna,is one of the colour ringed birds which has been recorded at Barton Pits and is a 2nd calander bird,showing some wing and tail moult,what a beast of a bird!
After enjoying some great views i headed home after another great day out and about.
East Halton Marshes Mitigation Area,19th. 
Some Of The Locals From Goxhill Marsh On 19th June.
No comments:
Post a Comment