The Patch was full of birds this morning though mostly Black-headed Gulls only a very few of which were juveniles. The wind made viewing difficult and uncomfortable(bring on the new hide). A few Sandwich and Common Terns with some Gannets off shore.
Plodding back to the car park 3 newly fledged Pied Wagtails were being fed, as I was photographing 1 of them, another a few feet further along the wall was taken by Kestrel, amid the very vocal protests of its parents, who chased the Kestrel a short way before losing interest to concentrate on feeding the remaining 2. It's a harsh life for a young bird.
An hour at the fishing boats was very disappointing with just 1 Curlew W, 2 auks W, 4 Common Scoter W and a few Gannets and Terns off shore.
On the ARC pit i counted 500 Pochard before giving up. Also 150+ Swifts with a sprinkling of House Martins and Sand Martins. On the Islands 2 Wood Sandpipers (a juvenile and washed out adult), 3 Green Sandpipers, 3 Common Sandpipers, 2 Little Ringed Plovers and 2 Ringed Plovers. I spent an hour watching 2 Hobby's over The Tower Pits that were giving a superb display as they took and plucked Dragonflys, 2 Marsh Harriers also hunted there. A Fox cub was paddling in front of the screen hide.
Plodding back to the car park 3 newly fledged Pied Wagtails were being fed, as I was photographing 1 of them, another a few feet further along the wall was taken by Kestrel, amid the very vocal protests of its parents, who chased the Kestrel a short way before losing interest to concentrate on feeding the remaining 2. It's a harsh life for a young bird.
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| A tough short life for fledglings |
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| Kestrel with juv Pied wagtail |
Great blog as always Martin, nature at its best with all the harsh reality. That little fox cub is cute just like the one I saw in our back garden.
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