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Priorslee Flash
8 Jul 16


Out of the 6 original cygnets, there appear only to be four remaining.  “The Lone Ranger”, no. 5 seems to have disappeared completely.

Plenty of Greylags present.  One little duckling left. Swifts overhead, and a low flying buzzard.

Our Goose was missing for a while, but back again now with his entourage.  Does like to think he is a swan!

(Ann Dewhust)

The original 6 cygnets, alas it looks like there are only 4 remaining (Ann Dewhurst)

The Chinese Goose has returned  (Ann Dewhurst)

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Aqualate
3 Jul 16


Another trip to the hide at Aqualate Mere just over the border in Staffordshire where I spent a while with the camera on an otherwise rather quiet morning

A Kingfisher was on one of the posts close to the hide early on, before the sun was helping to show the real brilliance of this always stunning bird.

The same Kingfisher on a different perch.

The Kingfisher had flown off and when it or another returned it was to a more distant perch. Harder to get detail in the plumage, but at least in the sun: it spent a long while looking about. Not sure there are any fish up there as flying fish are rather scarce in Staffordshire.

Here it looks over its shoulder.

And occasionally it turned around.

I think I would shut my eye if I was scratching that close.

A Great Crested Grebe collecting weed.

But his mate seems disinterested. No sign of the juveniles seen when I was last here three weeks ago.

He tries again with the same result.

“Perhaps if I seem to be building a nest she will get the hint ...”: she didn't.

Splendid light on this Coot with weed caught on its legs. I still think those feet look most strange.

A juvenile Reed Warbler typically hiding in the reeds.

Occasionally you are lucky and get a direct line with nothing in the way.

Perhaps looking for a parent to feed it?

Certainly it is looking alert.

A juvenile yellow-toned Great Tit.

I don’t like shots of birds on feeders but hard to get Willow Tits otherwise as they shoot in, grab a seed and fly off: so any shot is welcome.

This even more yellow-toned juvenile Blue Tit was also making the briefest of forays to a feeder and otherwise staying out of sight.

A juvenile Long-tailed Tit.

Makes my neck ache!

A male Great Spotted Woodpecker – you can just make out the edge of the red on the nape”.

(Ed Wilson)

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Priorslee Flash
24 Jun 16

Both Mute Swans and five cygnets seen this morning. All looks well with them.

Must have been a problem with the weed yesterday, when the pen was struggling.

(Ann Dewhurst)

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Priorslee Flash
23 Jun 16

I'm sorry to report only 4 cygnets with their parents for the last three days. Two are missing. 

This morning, one parent seems in distress with fishing twine. Shaking its head incessantly.

(Ann Dewhurst)

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Aqualate
19 Jun 16

From an early morning trip to Aqualate this morning.

You want a Swan? Count this lot then (only part of the c.300 present).

A duck Mallard having a good quack.

The same duck Mallard looking embarrassed about making all that noise.

Gadwall, especially lone birds, are not always easy to separate from Mallard – they are smaller but a very similar shape. Here we see a group in company with Tufted Ducks for scale. As the Gadwall moult the white speculum showing through is another clue as is the rather brighter and wider orange to the bill-side. The bill is never pale green-yellow as it is in drake Mallard in all plumages.

Here are 11 Gadwall and 3 Mallard. The Mallard are in the bottom right with the duck showing the white side to the tail (pair of Tufted Duck and Coot in the distance).

If you look heard there are 17 Gadwall here. Hard to be sure but I think most of the birds in the foreground, at least, are very well-grown juveniles.

With one duck having a flap.

Now this was really unexpected: a duck Pochard with her brood. I did not realise that this species bred in the England and I am certain I have never seen ducklings here before.

A pair of Tufted Ducks seen landing from the rear.

And a different pair approaching from the front.

closer ...

Another drake swerving to avoid landing on the duck Mallard.

And gathering it all together.

Same species: same technique.

Undercarriage and flaps down and airbrakes out.

A duck Tufted Duck looks apprehensive at the noise of the shutter.

... but carries on preening anyway.

A perfect portrait of a pair.

This is a bit of a puzzle: I took the photo to show the brown eclipse plumage feather on the flank of this drake Tufted Duck but looking carefully this is rather an odd bird. There is the hint of a neck-collar reminiscent of the closely-allies New World species, Ring-necked Duck though nothing else suggests that species which has a peaked crown and white band behind the broad black tip to the bill. This bird strangely has no black tip at all and even more unusually shows no ‘tuft’ either. I can only assume it is a 1st summer bird that did not acquire full adult plumage.

Not often seen in flight – a Moorhen: this a juvenile without the red shield.

And here is a close-up of just such a juvenile.

From this angle we see the pointed tail-feathers of this Great Spotted Woodpecker (a male) that can be used a ‘prop’ as they shin up tree.

(Ed Wilson)

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Priorslee Flash
17 Jun 16

The cob slept most of the day after getting stuck in the fencing. He was soaking wet and miserable. However, he and the family sunbathed all afternoon today on the bank, and now they are all fit and well again as in this evenings picture.

(Ann Dewhurst)

After the trauma from the past few days, it's good to see that the family are back together again. (Ann Dewhurst)

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Priorslee Flash
12 Jun 16

The Mute Swans and their cygnets.

(Ann Dewhurst)

The parents and 6 cygnets out and about on the Flash. (Ann Dewhurst)

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Newport and Local Area
4 - 9 Jun 16

“Been out and about, mainly on the bike, in the area the past week and come up with a number of sightings to share

Saturday 4 Jun
I was at the hide overlooking the marsh at Wall Farm near Kynnersley.

Here is a male Cuckoo that has just dived in to the reeds and emerged with its favourite food – a nice hairy caterpillar. There were three Cuckoos here: two males and a ‘hepatic’ female. Only females are ever ‘hepatic’, being reddish-brown all over (hepatic = colour of liver). The proportion of females that are like this seems to vary between populations. I have seen 14% quoted for the UK. Sadly the males chased her away before I could get a shot.

This beetle was then seen at Priorslee on 7th June: a Pyrochroa serraticornis (Common or Red-headed Cardinal Beetle).

An underside view of the most common spider at the moment – the Common Stretch-spider.

Not my best shot but the sight of 3 Yellow Wagtails having a dispute was unusual. These were in a remnant pool from the winter floods on nearby Crudgington Moor.

Sunday (5 Jun)
Early on it was at Aqualate.

Not much new going on this morning. However this Chiffchaff came and posed on the dead tree by the hide.

and again

This drake Mallard (the plain yellowish bill identifies) is rapidly losing its breeding plumage.

Monday 6 Jun
Today I was on The Wrekin. Managed to find most of the specialities – Common Restart, Pied and Spotted Flycatcher, Wood Warbler and both Tree and Meadow Pipits. Either (or both) Willow and Marsh Tit would have been the icing on the cake. At this late date, apart from the pipits, the birds were in dark shade of the full-leaved trees so photos were hard

Common Redstart, action shot that would have been a winner but sadly not quite sharp.

Common Redstart: the best of the bunch.

Meadow Pipit: you can indeed see the long hind claw: interesting bill shape.


Tuesday 7 Jun
A quick visit to one of the farm pools around Newport netting two year-first dragonflies.

Black-tailed Skimmer.

Four-spotted Chaser. This was a species new to me in Shropshire.

Wednesday 8 Jun
Back to Aqualate. Main interest was centred around the largest hatch of damselflies I have ever seen

A male Reed Bunting with a mouthful of damselflies.

a fine view of a female Reed Bunting.

Here we see an exuvia and a very recently-emerged damselfly at the teneral stage when it has no colour to aid identification.

Here we can see just how big the ‘hatch’ was this afternoon.

Another teneral on Woody Nightshade or Bittersweet (Solanum dulcamara) for scale.

A male Large Red Damselfly.

A pair of Large Red Damselflies: the female often rests with wings partly open.

A male Beautiful Demoiselle: not easy to be certain from this angle that the wings are not ‘banded’, but male Banded Demoiselle would show a brown area between the thorax and the wing bases.

A juvenile Willow Tit showing a small amount of yellow at the gape.

... and it was begging!

On the way back there was a small pool with a bit of a surprise

Not something you see everywhere but Shelduck often nest at inland sites where there are suitable burrows for nesting and not far from water. Here a female (head underwater so you will have to take my word for that) and the three youngsters in the brood.

Thursday 9 Jun
Back to the local farm pool

Trouble getting to this without disturbing it – a female Emperor Dragonfly. My first ‘large’ dragonfly this year.

Paired Blue-tailed Damselflies.

And then I had a look at part of the Newport canal where I found.

A male Red-eyed Damselfly.

Not the most elegant of poses – paired Black-tailed Skimmers”

(Ed Wilson)

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Newport and Local Area
28 - 30 May 16

With buses on a Sunday service on both Sunday and Monday I could get no early access to the lake and so it was out with the bike to see what I could find. All these were taken within 10 miles of Newport, most of the water birds at Aqualate Mere just in Staffordshire

A fine pair of Tufted Ducks.

The drake Tufted Duck on his own.

And the duck: note even she has a vestigial ‘tuft’ and this is an excellent way to eliminate all possibility of a duck Scaup when in winter plumage and the species can otherwise be less easy to separate at any distance.

A different pair: the duck has less pale at the base of her bill.

A sequence of a drake Tufted Duck landing: #1

#2 – undercarriage down.

 #3 – full flaps.

#4 – looks about to stall.

#5 – touch down tail first.

#6 – main undercarriage down.

A duck Mallard with her four ducklings. It always seems to me that in summer the bills of the adults always hint at the shape of Shoveler. I’ve puzzled this for a number of years and concluded that when they start the post-breeding moult they lose feathering at the base of the bill and this accentuates its size and shape.

There is no other phrase: “aren’t they sweet?”

And the proud mother.

A pair of Great Crested Grebes prepare to do battle with a another pair close-by (but out of camera-shot). Dipping its plumes in the water hardly makes for an attractive sight.

The other pair took little notice of the threat and appear to be having a good laugh about it (actually part of their mating ‘dance’).

Little Grebe in full breeding plumage: not often they come this close.

Little Grebe searching for fish!

A wet Little Grebe after searching for fish.

A singing Chiffchaff


And for a change I decided to try the video on the camera and you can see and hear this same bird in action.

A singing Wren these rarely stay still long-enough for a decent photo.

Flushed with success and wishing I could hand-hold the camera rather more steadily I had a go at filming very interesting behaviour by a Moorhen. Whether it worked this trick out or whether it first did it accidentally and then decided to include it in its repertoire is impossible to say.

A wet Yellow Wagtail. This species, our only fully migrant wagtail, is not too hard to find in any cereal crops in the area. Helps if you know its distinctive flight call. This one I found in the edge of a field using a remnant puddle from the winter floods.

And there were a few insects about when the weather was sunny: here is male Azure Damselfly. The ‘blue’ damselflies are hard to separate but photos reveal the diagnostic shape of the black marking in segment 2 – counting from the top.

This species is less trouble: a Banded Demoiselle.

And this is not hard either: a Large Red Damselfly.

It is not often you can positively identify a female Orange-tip. They have no ‘orange’ and are easy to pass off as any other species of ‘white’. At rest the mottled underside of the hind-wing is diagnostic.

(Ed Wilson)

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Newport
22 May 16

Local area

Was out and about early this morning ahead of the promised showers and took a few photos at various locations, starting with Aqualate Mere in Staffordshire.

A Moorhen having a good stretch.

Two Coots battle it out. Those claws can inflict severe injury but rarely seem to.

Looks like the one on the right has won, but ...

Neither are taking it lying down!

Time to break it up.

A drake Pochard.


 I know it is only a drake Mallard but how often do we stop and look closely at the plumage?

When the light catches it the blue speculum shines.

And that green gloss on the head!

In this shot the nictating membrane – the third eye-lid that passes across the eye in many (all?) birds is closed.

Although the breeding season is about over these drake Mallards still have enough testosterone to have a battle. Just look at that churning water.

In the shade so we cannot see much detail but there is no mistaking a Treecreeper with its thin, curved bill for accessing all those goodies in nooks and crannies in the bark.

A Turtle Dove: the typical small head of a dove; we can see part of the distinctive neck marking; and also part of the dark-centred orange-brown feathers on the back.

This shows the neck marking more clearly.

Here we can see the white end to the under-tail and the very black inner border.

Same stump as the Turtle Dove but now a Cuckoo! The rusty marks on the neck mean this is a female. Indeed a few females, and only females, are rufous all over.

A quizzical look from the Cuckoo. Another species with, proportionally, rather small head and in this instance a small bill. Cuckoos specialise in feeding on hairy caterpillars and seem unaffected by the irritation that you or I would suffer if we picked up, let alone ate, such a caterpillar.

This male (the red on the nape tells us this) Great Spotted Woodpecker attacking the seed in the feeder.

A small fly in a rather battered dew-covered Meadow Buttercup flower makes an attractive photograph.

And a grass-head with dew covering all the seeds.

The swollen femur identifies this beetle as the very common – at this time of year – Oedemera nobilis.

A different perspective

Paired Green-veined White butterflies. As far as I know the yellow-shoulder on the lower insect does not help telling which is male and which is female. The upper-wing of the male had dark smudges not present in females but we cannot see that here.

(Ed Wilson)

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West Midlands
15 May 16

RSPB Reserve at Sandwell Valley

I made a trip to the RSPB Reserve at Sandwell Valley today. It is situated between the M6 and M5 junctions on the NW of Birmingham and adjoins a larger ‘Country Park’ area that is popular with locals walking dogs, jogging, horse-riding etc. Many birds in the pools seem to tolerate these activities. The warblers in the wooded areas are largely unaffected – we heard 8 different species of warbler: Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler, Blackcap, Garden Warbler, Lesser Whitethroat, Common Whitethroat, Sedge and Reed Warblers. The RSPB Reserve part of the area is much less disturbed and offers some good watching from the hide with some photo opportunities ....

Calling Common Tern. In Arctic Tern the whole of the wing trailing edge would be translucent apart from a thin line along the outer primary tips.

The flight markings are perhaps better illustrated here.

Landing Common Tern showing the dark wedge in the outer primaries from the upper side. Its partner is on the artificial island, with a ‘tunnel’ and fence to minimise predation of eggs and chicks.

Here we see both upper and underwing pattern.

Here at rest on post: note the ring on the right leg – part of the monitoring programme. Note the black tip to the orangey-red bill, unlike Arctic Tern which has an all red bill. The dark on the tip appears rather extensive on this bird – perhaps it is muddy.

Some other points to separate from Arctic Tern here: an Arctic Tern would have very short legs – seeing any ring would be hard; and the black on the head would be a more ‘capped’ appearance.

This different bird – no ring on the leg – in different light is probably more typical.

Here is one rather unusually splashing around having a bathe.

Bath-time over. My what red feet you have!

This one bringing home a small fish – you can just about see it cross-ways in the bill.

And the reward: somewhere in here are two Common Terns!

Sleeping Lapwing.

Awake Lapwing: some wag suggested they can get ‘Sky’ direct on their crest!

This worm really does not want to leave the soil and be eaten!

The angle of the light is just right to catch the colours in the wing here.

Here are two Lapwing chicks with no sign of Mum or Dad. Was just too late with the camera – one of these had been swimming across the stretch of water on the left – very strange to see a ball of fluff confidently swimming [Coot in background].

Adult Lesser Black-backed Gull in full cry. Note the red orbital eye-ring and bright yellow legs – the legs will fade somewhat post-breeding.

Note how when the bill is closed it looks more massive.

The other side – but a different bird.

This trio includes an apparently rather paler bird with a more-massive bill and more prominent orbital eye-ring. The two others have rather pale legs. How much of this is an effect of the angle of light and how much is real is hard to say, but does illustrate the pitfalls of ID-ing gulls.

This flight view is of a 3rd or 4th summer bird – probably could breed but probably won’t. There are brownish tones in the wing inboard of the black tips; the white ‘mirrors’ in the primaries are less extensive than a typical adult; and there is some black on the upper mandible.

At least three Little Ringed Plovers were present giving good views.

And again. The larger (Greater) Ringed Plover lacks the yellow eye-ring – and is only seen on passage in our area. Little Ringed Plovers (LRPs) breed on suitable habitat.

They can be quite confiding around bird-hides – as here demonstrates. An un-retouched photo.

Did I say confiding?

Although the Lapwing is somewhat closer this illustrates how small LRP's are.

Its a good trick if you can do it – bite your own leg off. An Oystercatcher shows how.

Bath-time.

Seems it is hard to soak feathers!

Nothing like making a splash.

Now really going for it.

An apple a day keep the (Coot) doctor away.

Instar shield-bug with big shoulders.

My preliminary ID of this hoverfly is Myathropa florea. I read it is a widespread and common species which I have yet to log at Priorslee.

(Ed Wilson)

More Here:  
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Priorslee Flash
15 May 16

Just in time to see our Swans retiring for the evening with four or five cygnets closely in tow. Not before time, as we were getting concerned. Over the moon now. The cob was getting quite lonely.

(Ann Dewhurst)

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Aqualate
8 May 16

A few images from Aqualate this morning.

Went to Aqualate again this morning: after the storm last evening and with E winds there was always the chance that some terns would be around. Was not to be: the ‘bird of the day’ was an Otter swimming across the water in front of the hide.

A Green Woodpecker – the red in the moustache identifies this as a male.

And this a slightly different perspective on a male Great Spotted Woodpecker.

One of the specialities at Aqualate is Willow Tit.

This seems to be a different bird and shows much more extensive white-edging to the folded secondaries than usual.

This Coal Tit is looking slightly ruffled.

And seems to have found something to shout about.

Well it was a long way away but even so there is no mistaking this as a Cuckoo. The rather elongated grey body with the wings characteristically drooping when at rest and the rather small-looking head confirm the ID. The stripes on the belly are just about visible.

A magnificent drake Gadwall: this bird has some brown edging to the bill and I suspect this means it is a first-year bird.

This way around shows a touch of chestnut in the folded wing.

 And here are two drakes showing different amounts the brown edging to their bills.

Yes well: somewhere in there is a duck Gadwall!

 She did emerge: note the extent of her brown edging to the bill.

A lone Mallard duckling. There did not seem to be any parent in attendance. I saw what was presumably the same duckling alone a week ago: as long as it steers clear of the Otter he may be OK. Seems to have a disproportionately large bill.

Slightly unexpected at this date was a drake Shelduck. Again this bird does not look quite a full adult with what should be a bottle-green head looking rather washed-out ....

As is better illustrated here.

Pair of Tufted Duck. Even in full adult plumage some ducks show a hint of pale at the base of the bill.

A side-elevation of the drake.

And, just a few degrees out, also of the drake.

(Ed Wilson)

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Venus Pool
6 May 16

This afternoon I paid a visit to Venus Pool Here

(Ed Wilson)

Later in the day I visited the SOS reserve at Venus Pool. Nothing too special about but always good to sit in the hides and practice with the camera settings. I do not really like pictures of birds at feeders but occasionally there is little alternative: a fine male Great Spotted Woodpecker.

Another fine-looking male: a Greenfinch of course.

This Yellow Wagtail was having a good preen. After it did so ....

... it then went in for a bathe!

Sometimes it is good to have a stretch: a Common Sandpiper goes for it.

and then puts best foot forward.

Two first-year Mute Swans fly-by still with significant amount of grey in the plumage.

The same two better synchronised!

An admixture of seven immature birds. The bird with all-white wings shows a rather dull-looking bill and is presumably a second-year non-breeding bird.

A fine sight

The proud Canada Geese parents with their seven off-spring.

Cute?

Fairly independent even at this stage.

The subtle tones of Lapwing – or to use the country name, Green Plover – are well captured at this angle.

Which way? seems these Rabbits have all angles covered. Note the rufous hind-necks, not always obvious ‘in the field’.

On the face of it this ought to be easy to identify with 4 reddish and 5 black bars on a yellow background. A gang of c.10 of these were flying around and occasionally, as here, perching briefly on leaves. They do not seem to have the ‘waisted’ look of wasps and were not flying like hoverflies. The wings are rather shorter than the body. Any ideas?

(Ed Wilson)


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Newport Area
2 May 16

Out and about in the Newport area including Aqualate in Staffordshire.

(Ed Wilson)
Been out around the lanes and came across this Little Grebe in smart breeding plumage from Wall Farm hide.

Regular readers know my liking for drake Gadwall: well here is another. This from a foray to Aqualate just over our border with Staffordshire. The dark spots are insects on / over the water which >400 Swifts and hirundines were feeding on.

A rather strange date to find Pochard this far S in the country. This drake shows some dark shading on the edges of the back feathers and therefore likely an immature – a 1st summer? The distinctive head profile is well-shown here.

And a duck Pochard was with the drake: she certainly looks immature – indeed almost like a juvenile that has not really progressed to 1st year plumage.

A Cormorant coming in to ‘land’ – tail-first!

The landing is hardly designed to keep dry

Note that this bird has already lost any of the white head-plumes it got ahead of the breeding season.

Well: at extreme range with camera set to 2400mm equivalent we can just about see this is an Arctic Tern with its rather longer tail-streamers than the very similar Common Tern. What else can we see: well a pair of Tufted Duck and a Coot on the water; at least 2 Swifts and more than half a dozen Sand Martins hawking over the water.

Away from the birds Aqualate is home to one of the best local displays of Bluebells – just walk along any of the well-marked bridleways.

True blue carpet

A small pool and marsh on my route at Aqualate has breeding Black-headed Gulls. You don’t expect to see gulls sitting in trees.

Because of their scarcity these days it is best if I describe this as ‘site withheld’. A Turtle Dove is a surprise almost anywhere in the UK these days, let-alone within 15 miles of Newport.

(Ed Wilson)
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Upton Warren
10 Apr 16

A day out at The Christopher Cadbury Wetland Reserve at Upton Warren near Droitwich, managed by the Worcestershire Wildlife Trust

After purchasing permits in the Sailing Club cafe we went to The Flashes to the S of the Sailing Lake. This is the place to see Avocets that breed here. It is the site of a large and noisy Black-headed Gull colony. There were a few lingering Shoveler and some Shelduck. Other waders were Lapwings, a pair of Oystercatchers and four Little Ringed Plovers chasing about. A few other bits and pieces. Photography was not easy here as we were looking in to the sun from the main hide – later in the day would have been better

We then moved to the other part of the Reserve, known as The Moors with its own car park. We liked this better as there were hides pointing both ways and so photography was easier. While there were no Avocets here – they need the saline water in the Flashes – this site held grebes and some diving ducks. all Tufted Ducks. The hide closest to the car park here also has some feeders to attract tits, finches and Reed Buntings

All around the reserve there were migrant Chiffchaffs, Willow Warblers and Blackcaps, easy to see with no leaves on the trees. We were also lucky to have several views, albeit fleeting, of Cetti’s Warblers. Later in the day as it clouded a few hirundines arrived

I guess because of the clear weather at the start of the day and our rather late arrival (10:30) we saw no other migrants. I had hoped a Redshank, a Curlew or a Common Sandpiper might have been around. Too early in the year to expect any other warbler.


Al of today's images can be found in the Upton Warren Album Here


(Ed Wilson)

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Staffordshire
9 Apr 16
Aqualate Mere

Another visit to Aqualate by bike and a few images below:

This is the view from the hide from Aqualate. Most of the best birds are ‘the other side’ of the water.

Rather a long range shot but the head-shape of a duck Goldeneye is distinctive.

Here are four Goldeneye. From plumage it looks like a drake and three ducks, bit one of these has the head thrown back which, as far as I know, is the display of drakes. So I guess it is a 1st year bird that has not acquired the plumage, just the testosterone.

Here is the best shot I could get of the drake when he came closest to the hide – about the only place at Aqualate where viewing the water is possible, certainly from the public paths.

And here wing-flapping we see the extent of the white in the wing – probably the whitest of any duck species.

I don’t usually ‘do’ photos of birds on feeders but the sight of two male Reed Buntings together was sufficiently unusual to be recorded ....

... even if they don’t seem be getting on too well.

Here is a close-up of one of the birds on its own.

You want close-up? Male Great Spotted Woodpecker.

And aren't feathers amazing.

Even when it turns around.

Just about lift-off. Here two (near?) adults and a 1st year bird get airborne. At least 8 of the 40 or so Swans on the water flew off while I was present.

They even get wings synchronised.

Here are another two adult departing, sunlit against a dark sky.

All the effort of take-off seems to need some bowel relief – careful where you stand when Swans are about!

It is amazing how Swans can twist their necks and use their large bills to delicately arrange the feathers in their wings. I wonder if they ever get stiff necks?

This was not part of the preening: one of the other Swans had come too close and this was the warning.

The threat posture did not work and he had to resort to more direct action.

With a combination of missing feathers and the angle giving the wings a rather unusual shape and the tail held tightly closed this looked interesting ...

... but here we see that it is in fact just a tatty Buzzard. Not all birds look pristine during the breeding season, especially large birds which take several years to reach maturity.

More of an ‘arty’ shot than a portrait of the Great Crested Grebe with the reflections of the reeds made in to swirls by the swell on the water.

And here with interesting water patterns.

This is, however, more of a portrait.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash
6 Apr 16

It looks like the Swans are nesting. Cob seeing off all comers. He keeps anxiously visiting the inlet, and no sign of the pen for a week now. I guess she is on the nest.

(Ann Dewhust)

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Staffordshire
5 Apr 16
Aqualate Mere
Location

Another visit to Aqualate by bike and a few images below:

From the hide at Aqualate I saw this Blue Tit with ‘added yellow’ round the face. I am sure this is from feeding on nectar in the very yellow pussy willow that is abundant at the moment.

As a reminder – here is one without ‘added yellow’.

This drake Gadwall shows a very faint pale stripe up the hind-neck that recalls a similar mark on drake Pintail. I think it must have been the angle of the light that produced this effect as I have not noticed it before.

The local cob Swan was on the warpath again when other swans came too close.

A head-down charge was enough to persuade this one to move away.

This male Reed Bunting is still not in full breeding plumage – it should lose all the white flecks in the head. It may be a 1st year bird that will not acquire a solid black head.

(Ed Wilson)

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Staffordshire
19 Mar 16

Aqualate Mere
A visit to Aqualate later today.

Somewhere in / under there is a duck Mallard. I doubt it is much fun being a duck in such circumstances: indeed it is not unknown for them to be drowned.

But this one survived.

This Mute Swan photo is included for the texture and reflection.

This isn't: it seems to take a lot of effort to get in the air (with a Tufted Duck scattering!). Wings down.

 ... and now wings fully raised for the next power stroke.

... and this is what it was all about: someone else in his territory! But not for long.

Another reflection shot: Moorhen of course.

And here the Moorhen comes complete with tide-line!

A nice and sharp Buzzard in the sun.

And yet another ...:: Great Crested Grebe here.

This Shelduck is a likely a first-winter female: note the complete lack of ‘knob’ at base of bill and the rather pale feathers here.

Her suitor meanwhile seems to be an adult male with a prominent and bright red ‘knob’ at the base of the bill.

His turn for a reflective shot

Shelduck may be big ducks but are dwarfed by Mute Swans.

Not all waterbirds: here is a male Great Tit (with out of focus wire across its breast!).

A male Great Spotted Woodpecker – the red on the nape tells us it is a male.

Another view.

And again.

And while he remains so cooperative: another angle.

(Ed Wilson)

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Shropshire
31 Mar 16

Carding Mill Valley

A male Ring Ouzel and about 5 Wheatears were seen this morning in the Cardingmill Valley, on the edge of the golf course.

(John Arnfield)

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Shropshire
30 Mar 16

Local Area around Newport

A few photos from my bike ride today.

Later I visited the hide overlooking the small marsh at Wall Farm. Almost all the winter ducks have gone now. These Black-headed Gulls look as if they might breed in the marsh. There is a bit of a scrap going on here. I would judge two males with the female egging them on.

Looks serious!

The escape with the female shouting encouragement.

Probably the same pair displaying / shouting about something.

‘Just’ a Common Buzzard. Every Buzzard seems to have slightly different markings.

Puffy shower clouds over the flooded fields today.

Later over the Weald Moor there was this distant party of birds. The shape of the flock suggested Golden Plover and zooming in on this shot confirms this – the distinctive pointed wings and the general shape of the birds. It is just about possible to make out that some of the birds are getting the black belly of breeding plumage when these are very handsome waders indeed.

(Ed Wilson)

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Shropshire
28 Mar 16
Venus Pool

Here are a few photos from Venus Pool today, Easter Monday

A fine drake Shelduck at the Shropshire Ornithological Society (SOS) Venus Pool reserve south of Shrewsbury. All these photos were taken from the hides that are open to the public or other open area. Shelduck are more often seen inland than often imagined – indeed they nest in old Rabbit burrows, often on coastal dunes, but not always.

With several pairs present a few fights broke out: here two drakes battle while a duck looks on.

Sufficiently aggressive for feathers to fly!

The fight was not renewed, just a bit of posing as the victorious pair move away.

We win! we win!

Another species not always thought of as an inland bird is the Oystercatcher.

Obviously a drake Tufted Duck this birds shows remarkably little ‘tuft’.

Action shot of a drake Mallard calling. It is only the ducks that make the loud quacking call. the drakes uttering a quiet single call note.

It might be probing its long bill in the mud but this Snipe is still keeping a good look-out. It has many muscles and sensors in its bill and is able to find food and operate its bill without seeing what it is doing.

But will close its eye when its head goes underwater.

It is not all waterbirds around the reserve: here is a fine Goldfinch.

A female Chaffinch

And a male Chaffinch.

I was pleased to get this male Brambling. Still not in full breeding plumage – the last of the fringes have yet to wear off the head and nape feathers after which these areas will be jet black.

This male Greenfinch is wearing a ring. I expect from the local SOS ringing group.

A Blue Tit, of course. Here is a test: we all know what a Blue Tit looks like. Now draw a bird’s head, no matter how crude. Now add the markings of this familiar bird from memory ... surprisingly difficult.

One of the first of our summer migrants, though a few over-winter where they are often very elusive as they neither sing nor call. Here is a Chiffchaff.

This is frustratingly not quite sharp but shows that you should not believe all the bird guides that tell you they have black legs. They are usually dark. The feet, as here, are often much paler and more orange / brown or even pinkish.

You want close-up: have a Robin. Hard to believe that on mainland Europe this a woodland edge species and not easy to approach.

Or really close-up! You can see the bird hide reflected in the Robin’s eye here

(Ed Wilson)

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Shropshire
25 Mar 16

Wall Farm

Today I visited Wall Farm hide.

Not far from Telford, near Kynnersley is Wall Farm. The farmer has provided a hide over a small marsh and some interesting things turn up occasionally. These two Black-headed Gulls were probably just passing though there has been a small breeding colony here in the past. Depends upon the water levels. Here a bird, presumably a male, arrives calling.

This is a Little Grebe in full breeding plumage.

And here is proof of the locomotion across the water – more pattering than true flight.

But does just get clear of the water.

A smart drake Shoveler in flight.

And here is a pair of Shoveler showing the upperwing pattern, with the drake’s blue forewing, less colourful in the duck. Both show a green speculum.

This is not at all obvious – by design! A Snipe standing on one leg well camouflaged amongst the dead stems. The head is turned and the bill is over its back, but the bird remains alert – the eye is open.

Aren't feathers wonderful. Not sure of the species: with the rusty edging I'm inclined to a game bird and a partridge rather than a pheasant. But could be from a chicken at the farm!

(Ed Wilson)

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Staffordshire
19 Mar 16

Aqualate Mere

A visit today to Aqualate Mere:

How do they do that? When the male(?) Great Crested Grebe appeared with weed the usual dance and head-shaking is even more intense and they almost come out of the water.

Amazingly there are two birds chest-to-chest here!

Without weed it is all pose.

And again.

There is a Mallard Duck under there somewhere. It is not unknown for her suitors to end up drowning her.

A drake Mallard stretching. Note the curly tail feather, a very strong gene that crops up in many hybrids and domesticated forms.

Now is the speculum green or blue? Well the head is green so perhaps it is blue.

A fine pair of Shoveler showing the very distinctive bill profile. Mrs. Shoveler is amused.

A trio of Shoveler coming in to land. One of the drakes is presumably a first year bird and has yet to acquire full adult plumage and still has spotting on its breast.

If you look between the two Swans there are two drake Wigeon head-on. As we look at them the bird on the left has a yellow crown in a rufous head, whereas the other bird has a white crown in a greyer face. The left hand bird is the common (Eurasian) Wigeon; the right-hand bird an American Wigeon (or bald-pate, as known colloquially in the US).

On a pool near Aqualate I came across the duck Wigeon. It struck me that the dark green area around the eye was rather prominent. Could it too be an American Wigeon? Well: could it? That is certainly one feature and apart from the underwing pattern there seems to be little else to help separate them. As I am not used to seeing duck Wigeon this late in the season I’ll have to let it pass [Coot, Moorhen and most of duck Mallard get in the action].

A Moorhen in full breeding plumage with the yellow tip to the bill especially prominent.

Something that has eluded me at Priorslee so far – a really close and crisp shot of a Willow Tit. Here there is no confusion, this individual showing extensive white edging that seems not to be shown on the otherwise similar Marsh Tit and appears to be less obvious on the Priorslee bird. I have to say that I have seen birds in Mongolia and Japan that do not seem to conform to this feature. I find call and song are the easiest and most reliable feature.

And a ‘head-on’ view showing the spreading bib with no clear outline. This feature is hard to observe and of little value unless you are familiar with both species.

Well I might as well milk the moment!

If they were rare you would travel a long way to see such an attractive bird as a male Chaffinch.

(Ed Wilson)

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Newport
17 Mar 16

Newport

Out on the bike and locally:

Yet another picture that needs to be captioned “what a sweetie”!

Plenty of pollen about for this early bumble bee.

(Ed Wilson)

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Staffordshire
11 Mar 16
Aqualate Mere
Location

Later today I cycled to Aqualate, just across the border in Staffordshire. With fishing boats on the water almost all the birds were a long way from the hide but managed a few interesting shots

This is quite hard to identify, but the breast pattern gives a clue.

This view of the same bird is not much better, though white and brown in the wing is unique to this species of duck.

‘the dance of the 20 veils!

Settling back after all that energy it is revealed as a drake Gadwall.

A duck Gadwall joins in.

and now together.

This Great Tit has some sort of growth or perhaps tick above its eye – it looks as if it could be a water droplet here …

But not here where the crown is misshapen as a result.

I know Nuthatches can go up and down tree trunks but I didn’t know they could go sideways as well-enough.

Posing for its portrait.

(Ed Wilson)

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Staffordshire
7 Mar 16

Aqualate Mere
Today I went to Aqualate, just across the border in to Staffordshire, to try again to get a photo of the drake American Wigeon that has been present, but mainly lurking in the reeds, for over two weeks.

You can just about see and identify, at extreme range, the drake American Wigeon. It is behind and above the tail of the Canada Goose and we can make out the white (rather than yellow) crown and the greyish (rather than rufous) face – helpfully two drake (Eurasian) Wigeon are in the view as well. This drake spent at least an hour spinning in company with the Coot and the duck Wigeon. Duck American and (Eurasian) Wigeon are much harder to separate and probably impossible at this range even with a telescope.

Another impossible view – the drake American Wigeon is just left and behind the up-ended Mute Swan. Behind and left is a drake (Eurasian) Wigeon at almost the same angle for comparison. Full marks to the birder who first spotted this bird two weeks ago.

Wings and tail spread and feet out this drake Mallard prepares to land. Note the feathers standing up above the wing, indicating no lift is being provided by the wing – it has ‘stalled’ and is being carried by momentum only ...

And with the wings beating to act as air-brakes is now about to touch down.

Could try harder: perhaps the splash down will be better next time.

(Ed Wilson)

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Staffordshire
26 Feb 16

Aqualate Mere
I cycled down to Aqualate today to see if the American Wigeon was present: nope – last seen Wednesday. But managed a few pix.

This duck Gadwall in mid-flap

Cannot get a Blue Tit much ‘crisper’ than this!

Splendid male Great Spotted Woodpecker

(Ed Wilson)

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RSPB Burton Mere Reserve
24 Feb 16

I visited the RSPB Burton Mere Reserve on the Dee Estuary and some of the pictures I took here are below. Details of the reserve can be found by following this link Here

A view across the site does not suggest it would be too rewarding!

The ‘big skies’ can produce some impressive cloud-scapes.

and here.

and the Sallows looked good against a dark sky.

Lapwing obviously: but what are the smaller waders? Particularly the middle bird has a slightly decurved bill so perhaps a Curlew Sandpiper? No: that would be unlikely in winter in the UK and it is one of the races of Dunlin. Curlew Sandpiper would also look more ‘leggy’ and show a whiter ‘eye-brow’.

One of star species was Avocet. The bird on the right shows the upturned bill while the bird on the left upends to sweep its bill sideways through the mud on the bottom.

This silhouette view shows how fine the bill is as well as showing the bill’s diagnostic shape – as if the black-and-white plumage were not enough!

and the wing pattern is shown here.

Wintering here in some numbers were these Black-tailed Godwits. The very long straight bill separates from the similar Bar-tailed Godwit which has a slightly upturned bill (nowhere near as upturned as an Avocet). In fact the two species of godwit are easier to separate in winter when these Black-tails are very plain on the back. In summer plumage they both have rufous breast and heads and well-marked backs (pair of Teal in the background).

This group contains several birds that are beginning to show the rufous and some blotchy patterning. The bird flapping shows the diagnostic white wing-bar that the Bar-tailed Godwit lacks.

And in this flight view we can see both the white wing bar and why it is called Black-tailed Godwit (though white-rumped would have been as apposite).

Compare and contrast time again: the smaller bird in the middle of the Black-tailed Godwits with the shorter, thinner bill is a Redshank – so-called because of its red legs. Not much use as an ID in this view!

At least you can see some of the red legs here.

This Redshank has been bathing and as it flaps to get rid of excess water it is showing both its barred tail and the white panel in the trailing edge of the wing.
And another view – we can even see the black nails on the feet.

Not often you see this species like this. A Water Rail best identified by its red bill.

Here we see all the plumage details. Usually when glimpsed shooting back in to cover it can be surprisingly hard to separate from Moorhen but as we see it is very distinctly marked.

This is the usual view of this species. Even from behind separation is possible. Note the slim body and that the white undertail coverts are split by patterned feathers – on a Moorhen these would be solidly black. It is also smaller than a Moorhen, though that can be hard to judge on a quick view of a lone bird.

 and another look at the Water Rail.

Here is a good portrait of a drake Teal. The green in the speculum looks a very different colour to the green cheeks – an effect of the light. Note the black-bordered yellow undertail.

A different bird from a different angle: note the thin yellow border to the green cheek. On both these birds it is rather less prominent than usual.

A stately Grey Heron. This bird is in breeding condition with a brighter bill, the often difficult to see nape-plumes and aigrettes on the back.

Grey Herons nest early in the year and in communal nests. Here two birds arrive. It is always a surprise to see such large birds in tree-tops but that is indeed where the communal nests are sited.

An unexpected visitor was this Whooper Swan. Apparently it had been sitting here for some days and the wardens were about to check it out to see whether it was injured or unwell. The other ‘yellow-billed’ swan species is the smaller Bewick's (or Tundra) Swan which would show less yellow on the bill. 2 Canada Geese, a pair of Wigeon with Teal and Mallard get in to the picture.

A Little Grebe in typical powder-puff pose (does anyone know what a powder-puff is these days?). Just a hint of the summer plumage on the neck.

A local Buzzard flies over.

This is a Marsh Harrier – at some distance! A typical flight shot with the bird’s head pointed down searching for voles etc. The dark tip to the wing and the grey inner wing tell us this is a male.
Another view – head still down.

A splendid male Chaffinch.

Apart from tits and Chaffinches at the feeders small birds were not that evident. Here we see one of a small party of Linnets. There is just enough visible at this angle to make a positive ID: the finch-like bill; the quite well-notched tail; the flank and belly-streaking, but most importantly the white edges to the primary feathers.

And head-on. In fact it is rather less easy to identify from this angle. Luckily the birds were calling.

(Ed Wilson)
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The Flash
13 Feb 16

Visiting swans being attacked by our resident pair 10.15 this morning.

(Ann Dewhurst)

The resident swan chasing off an interloper (Ann Dewhurst)

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Staffordshire
13 Feb 16

Aqualate Mere
Location

An afternoon visit to Aqualate, just across the border on Staffordshire. There is a bird hide with a feeder well utilised by the local tits and a few other things. Most of the hundreds, sometimes thousands, of birds are rather distant, but a few usually drift close and provide good photo opportunities:

Well I never noticed that at the time: this Blue Tit has a ring. You can almost read the number except that on such a small leg it wraps all the way around.

Not all the Blue Tits had been ringed. If you look closely at the photo you can see a blue gloss on the primaries and in the tail – not something too apparent when you see them leaping about.

And this Great Tit had not been ringed either.

What a sweetie: Coal Tit of course.

A male Reed Bunting, also ringed. Buntings, like finches, acquire their smart breeding plumage by the pale edges of the feathers wearing away to reveal the true colour. This has some way to go before the head and bib become jet black. It will keep the white malar stripe.

This Robin has not been trapped and ringed as yet.

Breeding plumage Cormorants are rather handsome, albeit with a rather nasty-looking bill, especially if you are a fish.

Tight group of two pairs of Tufted Duck. Note the bill pattern of the duck nearest on the left being a less clear version of the pattern on the drake behind her.

This duck Tufted Duck shows white at the base of the bill, often thought of as indicating a duck Scaup. But in that species it would be much more extensive and clean white and the bill-tip would lack the pattern. A Tufted Duck will always show a vestigial tuft, as here. The head-shape is also different but that can depend a bit on the posture of the bird.

This shows that the white at the base of the bill is not that uncommon!

Now that’s what I call a ‘tuft’!

A pair of Shoveler with a pair of Pochard and a Coot. The duck Pochard is rather a featureless bird, best told by shape and the slightly spectacled effect.

But just to confuse matters neither of these two Pochard (with part of a duck Tufted Duck) show the spectacled effect. This seems to be because from the tone of the back of the neck these are in fact first-winter drakes still coming in to plumage – they may well not breed this year.

And an unusual view of a duck Pochard.

Here is a first-winter Black-headed Gull, and a rather ‘late’ plumaged bird at that, showing almost no grey tones to the greater coverts – these look much like they would on a juvenile.

(Ed Wilson)
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Venus Pool
8 Feb 16


Too wet and windy for a visit to the lake this morning. But a friend took me to Venus Pool to sit in the relative comfort of the hides and managed a lot of pix, the best of ....

A visit to Venus Pool today and started at the feeders. Long-tailed Tits are always engaging.

A Blue Tit of course: not at all sure why it has a ‘grooved’ appearance to the belly.

A nice pair of Chaffinches: sexual dimorphism is the phrase to describe species where the male and female have obvious different plumaged.

The same pair show it was a ‘bad feather day’ if they strong wind was blowing the wrong way.

From this angle we see all the different tones in the plumage of the adult male Chaffinch: from the black above the bill fading to the blue-grey of the crown, subtly different from the nape and wing; the white in the wing edges, some of which have a yellow tinge; and then the greeny-yellow rump. Note however the nasty crusty growth on the feet and ankles. These seem likely to be caused by mites – and the same mites can cause mange in e.g. dogs and, even worse, scabies in humans.

The star for me today was this Brambling. This seems likely to be a female – certainly an adult male would have more black on the face. But there is rather more orange on the shoulder than I would expect from a female and this could just be a 1st winter male. A back-view would have helped but this shy member of the finch family did not hang around to give me a chance. Note the long claws.

Showing off its shiny BTO ring is this male Great Tit – you can almost read the number! Male because of the width of the beard and belly stripe.

another fine view of a Great Tit.

Don’t really like photos of birds on feeders but this Nuthatch was not going to perch on a convenient branch or trunk so had to make do with this shot.

I do like Gadwall: here we see a pair and well-shown is the different bill colour – black on the drake; and brown with obvious orange-sides on the duck (much brighter than on duck Mallards).

Here is the duck in all her glory.

Talking of glory! It may not really be a native wild bird in Britain but the male Pheasant is a handsome beast (even when I chop the tail off!)

Landing Lapwing.

From this angle we can see why one of the country names for Lapwing is Green Plover. Note too the brown area in the forewing.

Did we say green? Note how the brown area on the previous shot is iridescent mauve / violet.

A neat bit of formation flying.

Here is what the internet tells me is a deceit of Lapwings –this collective noun is apparently derived from the adult birds habit of feigning injury to distract attention from their nests and young.

A duck Shoveler displays her distinctive bill. Almost looks like she is smiling.

I am sure this drake Shoveler is keeping an eye on me even though I was in a hide!

With the light catching the green on the head what a handsome creature.

This first-winter drake is not quite so eye-catching and still to acquire breeding plumage – indeed it may not be so handsome at all this year.

And here is an adult drake in flight: the distinctive blue forewing is often the best field mark for flying groups.

Two immature Swans apply the footbrakes – immatures because of the rather pale bills: full adults would show orange bills at this time of year.

And two Greylag Geese also applying the footbrakes. Mainly Teal in the background but at least one duck Wigeon and some Lapwings and Shoveler (sorry about the sloping horizon!).

I will probably struggle to get a better shot of the upper-wing of a Greylag Goose.

(Ed Wilson)
        
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Venus Pool
20 Jan 16


I did not get to the lake this morning – it seemed likely there would be fog at Priorslee as it was misty here in Newport and it is usually worse there. So an afternoon visit with the camera to Venus Pool took its place, with the ‘best’ as follows

A drake Shoveler. Note the very thin white crescent / vertical line behind the bill. This feature is only shown by first-winter drakes of ‘our’ Shoveler but it is a very prominent feature of drake Cape Shoveler and Australasian Shoveler of all ages, these species being found in the Southern Hemisphere.

On this bird the crescent is more obvious: this is a different first-winter drake not yet in full breeding plumage.

And this is an even less-advanced drake – the hint of a green gloss on the head tells us it is a drake though in fact an adult duck would show a very different pattern on the flank ....

... as we see on this duck Shoveler. Note too that the bill of the duck is not black.

Meanwhile this a fully adult drake Shoveler.

A drake Wigeon

And another

And here a pair of Wigeon: the head-shape and the orangey flanks identify the duck when she is not in close company with the more easily recognisable drake.

I can never resist a well-lit drake Gadwall: such an attractive plumage patterning.

Here we see a drake Teal.

Just to prove that birds do not always go left to right this drake Teal is going the other way!

And here is a duck Teal. Size is the best indication of this species but note the small pale area at the base of the bill; and the dark line running back from the eye – neither that easy to see in the field.

Contrasting head shape, sizes and bills: a duck Teal in front of a drake Shoveler.

And again: a preening drake Teal in front of a drake Wigeon. Note the Wigeon is also a bird yet to acquire full breeding plumage – it shows the grey body but lacks the yellow crown.

A party of Teal in flight (with one errant drake Mallard). The drake Teal always show the yellow patch on the ‘tail’ but both sexes have a green patch on the inner part of the speculum. The right light is needed to see it well and it is only obvious here on the drake at the bottom centre; and on the duck flying in front a drake which is directly above that bird. The underwing pattern of drakes and ducks differs, with the white ‘arm-pit’ extending down the wing on drakes.

Here the green on the speculum is VERY obvious.

Another cautionary tale on lighting effects: these are all Greylag Geese even though the bird one from the top appears to have a dark bill – it is in the shadow of the upper bird.

A species I would not have expected to see inland during winter – here a pair of Shelduck, the male with the swollen base to the bill. There were 13 of these birds present.

And here is the same pair in profile.

A duck Goldeneye – well named.

I don’t often bother to photograph Mallard but in the excellent light how could I resist. Note just how pale the underwings and belly are in flight on both the drakes and ducks.

And another view – the pale underwings are not so obvious from this angle.

The Snipe spent most of the time lurking in the grass and the shade. This made persuading the camera to focus on the bird rather than the grass rather hard and necessitated a close-up.

A couple of Snipe did venture out in the sunshine later.

These two preening Snipe are seen over the back of a Canada Goose: Note the usually hard-to-see orange in the spread tail-feathers on the right-hand bird.

Here we see it is sometimes possible to observe the orange in the tail when a Snipe is feeding.

(Ed Wilson)

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2015
Review of Priorslee Lake


The Review of the Year can be found Here


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Priorslee Flash
25 Dec 15

Christmas Day. Grey, dull, overcast, drizzle. Swan pair out together. Grey Heron in reeds on north West Bank. 10 Goosanders, mainly male.

Absolutely beautiful full moon on Eastern horizon early last evening.

(Ann Dewhurst)

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Priorslee Flash
23 Dec 15

A juvenile Mute Swan flew in at 08:00, only to be seen off by our resident pair, who bore down with extended wings in splendid unison.

Also a single male Great Crested Grebe seen out on The Flash.

(Ann Dewhurst)

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Staffordshire
18 Dec 15

Aqualate Mere

Notes from visit to Aqualate

A short visit basically walking to the hide from the car park and back

The water was teeming with birds and anything more than ‘best estimate’ counts would have taken far longer than I had. Notable was the almost complete absence of gulls: even though it is mainly a roost-site there are usually a good number loafing and bathing (it is also a big Starling roost site but I was too early for that)

There were no outstanding species

On the water
>300 Mute Swans
>100 Greylag Geese
>100 Canada Geese
>500 Wigeon
>20 Gadwall
>50 Teal
>50 Mallard
>100 Shoveler
>30 Pochard
>100 Tufted Duck
>5 Goldeneye
>20 Cormorant
>100 Great Crested Grebe
Water Rail heard
Moorhen heard
>500 Coot
5 Black-headed Gulls

I also logged the following species:
Sparrowhawk, Wood Pigeon, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Jay, Jackdaw, Rook, Carrion Crow, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Willow Tit, Cetti’s Warbler (H), Long-tailed Tit, Wren, Blackbird, Song Thrush, Redwing, Robin, Chaffinch, Siskin, Bullfinch, Reed Bunting

Do I really need to tell you this is a Blue Tit!

Another view.

And this is a Great Tit.

This Great Crested Grebe shows an interesting mix of plumages: the two dark marks on the neck are retained from immature plumage but are in fact beginning to swell in to adult neck-plumes. I would normally expect a period where the neck looked plain between immature and adult plumages.

The flat light of a dull winter day allowed this shot of a Mute Swan without any of the detail ‘blowing out’.

And a non-flying Mute Swan.

The drake Shoveler in the foreground was moving its bill rather too quickly for me to stop the action, but the photo is worth it to illustrate the wonderful neck and flank markings. This bird has yet to acquire full breeding plumage and is likely a first winter bird – indeed it may look like this until its next moult out of eclipse next Autumn. A duck Wigeon behind provides a useful comparison in plumage tone.

Shoveler really do have a strange bill.

Here is the duck Wigeon on its own.

Just part of the mass of birds on the water, visible from the hide. You should have no trouble finding Canada Goose, Wigeon, Tufted Duck and Coot. There are Gadwall, Shoveler and Pochard as well.

Some of the other birds on the water – there are just 15 Mute Swans visible here: there were over 300 present! The Swan with its wings arched in threat will have its work cut out to chase all those away.

I blame the poor light again, but the drake Teal in the middle is sharp-enough. A duck in front of him. Note the white-flash on the side of the tail – this feature is diagnostic and can easily be seen at a distance.

(Ed Wilson)

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Mute Swans
18 Dec 15

The Flash

It looks as though the remaining two cygnets have left The Flash, as the cob and pen were at their breakfast station alone this morning. I saw the two youngsters fly past two days ago, and have not seen them since.

(Ann Dewhurst)


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Down South
14 - 15 Dec 15


From an adventure ‘down south’

At Dungeness - 14 Dec

A Marsh Harrier passes in front of one of the towers of the Dungeness Power Station. This is an immature bird when males and females can be tricky to separate. A photo helps and here we see a contrast between grey inner primaries and brown secondaries on the underwing which identifies it as a male.

 another view

A gull that, as far as Priorslee is concerned, is misnamed: a Common Gull. The round head, black eye with the mantle darker than either Black-headed or Herring Gull helps identify.

The adult gull on the right caused me (and the RSPB Dungeness wardens) some problem which I have not finally resolved. Features are the darker mantle than on the 2nd winter Herring Gull behind it: the lack of head-streaking (for a winter gull): the very elongated head-shape: the large bill with red on the lower mandible only: and, while it was a lot more obvious using the RSPB’s telescope provided in the Reserve HQ, the legs are not yellow. The amount of white on the final folded primary seems to me to clinch the ID as an adult winter Caspian Gull, but I simply do not have the experience to be 100% confident (behind the 2nd winter is a 1st winter Herring Gull and flying over a Lapwing).

Right in the centre here is a leucistic Lapwing (I saw a similar bird at Wood Lane last winter and possibly the same bird was seen at Belvide a few days afterwards). Lots of other Lapwing in the shot. The ducks are Gadwall – the white speculums identify – apart from a drake Shoveler at the back.

This would be a good find in Shropshire – I saw my last >20 years ago. It is a ‘brownhead’ Smew: a relative of Goosander (they are both sawbills – serrated bills for gripping fish). They seem to favour Dungeness and a few can usually be found there in winter.

Another good find was this Great White Egret, though they are becoming more common – global warming? At all times of the year the yellow bill separates from Little Egret. The much smaller Cattle Egret is not normally by water – it favours cattle fields – and lacks the sinuous neck.

Well I could have taken this shot of a flying drake Tufted Duck in Shropshire, but ...

Tucked up in the bushes here is the star of the visit to Dungeness – a Long-eared Owl. I have only seen one of these in Shropshire.

 Here you can just about make out the eye of the owl

At Rye Harbour

Here a whole group of winter-plumage Golden Plover feature. The ducks are all Wigeon and there are Lapwing, 2 Black-headed Gulls and a Coot visible

At Pagham - 15 Dec

Look: a Turnstone turning a stone

And scampering off ahead of the waves

(Ed Wilson)

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Hi Jinks
11 Dec 15


The Flash

Hi jinks on The Flash this morning. The Pen has sent the youngsters back to the island whilst she and 52F see off an intruding pair of visiting swans. All was peaceful earlier, when the juveniles were practising their flying. All peaceful by lunchtime, and a lovely sunny afternoon. A pair of Grey Heron sunning themselves in the north west corner of The Flash. Also, noted a Pair of Grebe. Only two juvenile cygnets seen today. There were three, possibly one male and two female yesterday.

(Ann Dewhurst)


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USA

2015

A few images Here from my trip to Las Vegas in Nevada, via Phoenix and Tucson in Arizona.

A Desert Sunset

American Kestrel

A Greater Roadrunner
More Images Here.

(Ed Wilson)

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Venus Pool
8 Dec 15

A short afternoon visit between showers, only from the main public hide
- only 1 Canada Goose among >100 Greylag Geese
- unexpected Shelduck – 4 birds present
- many Wigeon and Teal. A few Gadwall. Some Shoveler
- an immature / eclipse drake Goldeneye was the only diving duck present: a species new for me in Shropshire this year (a few Tufted Duck were present on the adjoining fishing lake)
- no Cormorants
- c.20 Lapwing; and a few Snipe hidden in the grass
- no gulls either
- Kingfisher in front of the hide on the post

A handsome Greylag Goose

Unlike the birds at The Flash this morning this drake Shoveler is in full breeding plumage.

Rather unexpected at this time of year were Shelduck: four birds were present and these two are a pair, the drake on the right having the swollen base to its bill (Greylag Goose in front of course).

Another view of the same pair, this time with two drake and three duck Wigeon

The Kingfisher came to perch in front of the hide again

You can never have too many Kingfisher photos! In this pose the blue patches on the side of the neck almost look like a moustache.

A trio of Greylag Geese flying in and showing the upper-wing and tail pattern clearly.

A Goldeneye – and despite the distance you can see how it got that name. The hint of white at the base of the bill and the strength of the mottling on wing coverts suggests to me this is an immature or eclipse drake and not the duck that was reported in the log book. Very distinctive head shape. Lapwings in the foreground of course (and the heads of a pair of Wigeon!)

(Ed Wilson)

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Bolivia
4 - 26 Oct 15

Click here for a fantastic trip report and photos from Ed Wilson.

Unicoloured Thrush, one of the worlds most rarest of birds and seldom photographed. (Ed Wilson)

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Priorslee Flash
31 Oct 15

High jinks on The Flash this morning. A pair of visiting swans in mating mode. Our resident pair are currently chasing them round the island, swimming and flying. One of our cygnets is joining in at a distance, by fluffing up his feathers.

(Ann Dewhurst)

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Priorslee Flash
24 Oct 15

Being independent prior to bedtime. (Ann Dewhurst)

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Priorslee Flash
22 Aug 15

Two swans with the three cygnets, have just driven off two visiting swans, then commenced gracefully neck dancing.
The Chinese Goose looks as though he was stuck in the mud, but I think, having given up on being a swan, he is pretending to be a heron, standing in the heron's favourite spot at the edge of the island. It has serious identity issues I think - quite amusing. Been there since yesterday.
Saw a water vole very briefly on my evening walk, very near a Grebe's nest. Heard what sounded like baby Grebe cheeping, but surely too late?
The water was so glassy at 4:00am. That the ripples from the vole swimming could be seen from across the lake. It was so beautiful edged with street lamps reflecting in the water, and the swan gliding in the presence of the fantastic red moon.

(Ann Dewhurst)

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Brazil
August 2015

Click here for some amazing photos from Brazil courtesy of Ed Wilson.

A taster or two...............

Cayman

Roseate Spoonbill

Large-billed Tern

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash
23 Sep 15

Grey Heron seen regularly in past month. Reflected in water. Has a mate. (Ann Dewhurst)

Pen and two daughters having an evening swim. The young male cygnet is being kept away by the cob, who pecks his rump when getting too close to the family. (Ann Dewhurst)

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Venus Pool
21 Sep 15

After the weather cleared a couple of hours at Venus Pool with the afternoon sun behind me in the main hide. The most interesting sightings
- a good number of Lapwings: >100 but I did not count
- a juvenile Common Sandpiper
- 1 or 2 Hobbies hurtling about with Jackdaws giving them a hard time. Interestingly none of the other birds showed any sign of panic, not even the jumpy Lapwings
- 1 Kingfisher in front of the hide
- a few Swallows mainly passing N(!): and even fewer House Martins
- both Chiffchaff and Blackcaps calling

This Lapwing is showing a mixture of old and new feathers. More interestingly it is wearing a ring on its right leg.

An increasingly rare sight these days: a good-sized flock of Lapwing flapping lazily around after one of their periodic ‘panics’ that mist see them wasting a lot of energy. Spot the two Jackdaws!

And again.

No mistaking this species even with a back view!

And a partial side view.

And the other side. Note the slightly damaged bill – or is it mud stuck on?

Almost scruffy in the wind. What I had never noticed before is the rufous patch above the base of the bill. The all-black bill tells us this is a male – a female has some red on the lower mandible.

Here we see just how rufous the front is. When the bird is sitting in waterside vegetation looking toward you it can be quite hard to see. Not of course when the electric blue back is on show.

How many shots do we need?

Well one with a fish at least. And here we see that it must be a damaged upper mandible tip: any detritus would have come off or at least moved during the dive for the fish.

A Common Sandpiper. The extensive pale tips to the wing coverts tell us this is a juvenile.
And here displaying the wing-bar for all to see.

And in typical rather hunched walk.

Interesting refraction effect on the reflection – Common Sandpipers do not have curved bills!

(Ed Wilson)


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Priorslee Flash
22 Aug 15


Pleased to see that all is calm after the horrendous storm last evening. The 3 cygnets are scrawny and long knocked with grey feathers. All present and correct. They are very independent, and the pen is spending more time alone. Meanwhile, back on the island the cob is puffed up in the sunshine, sunning himself. Hilariously, the Chinese Goose is emulating him, always wanting to be a swan.

The Grey Heron just flew by. It met with a second heron recently, a juvenile I believe? The Canada Geese are taking off at night, and noisily returning by day. No sign of them yet this morning.

Thought we may have blown away last night, but all is right with this small part of the world.

Best news is the unsightly umbrella post on the island has now been removed from The Flash.

(Ann Dewhurst)

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Venus Pool
5 Jul 15

In the afternoon I visited the Shropshire Ornithological Society (SOS) Reserve at Venus Pool and watched from the main public hide for an hour or so. Nothing very unusual but always something to see

Some notes
- >100 Greylag Geese and rather fewer Canada Geese. Many more Canada Geese on the adjacent fishing lake. One of the Greylags was an unusually pale bird
- 2 juvenile and apparently unfledged Shelduck: no sign of the adults
- a few Teal were the only dabbling ducks apart from Mallard
- no diving ducks seen
- at least 14 Cormorants of various ages. This species not seen on my previous three visits this year
- a Little Egret was new for me in Shropshire this year
- several Grey Herons, all juveniles
- a few Little Grebes, including fully-grown juveniles: no Great Crested Grebes
- >30 Lapwing. No obvious juveniles with them
- 1 Common Sandpiper was the only other wader I could find
- c.50 Black-headed Gulls with a relatively high proportion of juveniles. A few large gulls, mainly Lesser Black-backed Gull, dropped in but soon left
- a Stock Dove flew in to drink and left
- a Kingfisher gave the closest possible views
- a few House Martins high overhead were the only hirundines
- all the passerines were generally very quiet but I did hear a Chiffchaff call
and
- a few Rabbits
- a Gatekeeper was the only butterfly on a mostly cloudy and showery afternoon.

Grey Heron of course.

Another view: the dark crown tells us this is a juvenile and that seems to be confirmed by the rather fluffy-looking feathering on the back.

Success: but how to swallow it from this position?

This is what happens when you stand tail to the wind: ‘bad-hair day’.

From the public hide you can get reasonable close-ups! This is how it came off the camera.

A Kingfisher is always charismatic. Some spotting on the crown is normal but here seems more prominent than usual and there is extensive spotting on the wings. None of my reference books mention this feature. I had suspected it might be a juvenile but they are supposed to have grey legs whereas this shows some orange. So not sure ...

Did I mention close views from the public hide?

What a stunner!

and again

Little Egret about to land. Relatively small size separates from uncommon Great White Egret and the yellow feet separates from Cattle Egret which anyway is more likely to be found in fields with cattle than in wet area.

A good flight-view of a Greylag Goose showing the pale forewing, a feature visible at long range. Lapwing, Cormorant and Crow in the background.

I read somewhere that Pigeons are the only birds that can suck up water – most birds have to scoop the water up. Here a Stock Dove demonstrates how.

Collision alert! Not actually as close as it seems here. Both adult Lesser Black-backed Gulls with the extent of the dark on the trailing-edge of the underwing separating the left hand bird from Herring Gull in this view. The photo shows the legs are yellow but that would be hard to see in the field.

Classic moulting Herring Gull with the dark secondaries and extensive dark band on the tail from 2nd summer plumage and the new all pale inner primaries from 3rd winter plumage.

There are two birds here. They were feeding alongside each other with their heads underwater most of the time. Here one comes up for air. Looks rather odd – it is a juvenile Shelduck. The chestnut patch in the wing is a good clue. I would judge that these birds have not yet fledged. There was no sign of their parents.

A strange fellow this: apparently ‘just’ a pale Greylag Goose and the size, structure and plumage features are all Greylag and do not suggest any other genes.

I had to look twice at the juvenile Black-headed Gull in the foreground. The arrangement of the wing-feathers was unusually ‘neat’ – compare with the more typical juvenile at the right. I concluded that it was merely an ‘older’ juvenile rather than anything unusual.

... it only had to turn to preen and the whole effect changed and it no longer looked unusual.

Back-lighting made this Gatekeeper quite bright orange-looking.

When the sun went in it looked quite normal.

(Ed Wilson)
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Local Farm Pool
12 Jul 15

On what had become a fine Sunday I decided on a short early-afternoon visit to a small farm pool near Newport without much expectation – it was after all rather too sunny and late in the day for much bird activity. And indeed so it proved with nothing to highlight in my notes apart from
- a Hobby that shot over: I was busy with the dragonflies when I heard a Swallow alarm call and looked up just in time but too late to get a photo. But it was my first in Shropshire this year so very welcome.

Apart from that it was all insects:

Dragonflies etc.
- Common Blue Damselfly
- Blue-tailed Damselfly
- Common Darter
- Black-tailed Skimmer
- Emperor Dragonfly

Butterflies
- unidentified skipper sp.
- Large White
- Green-veined White
- lots of Small Tortoiseshells
- Gatekeeper
- Meadow Brown
- Ringlet

Also
- Cinnabar moth caterpillar – the black and yellow rugby-shirted one
- lots of 7-spot Ladybirds
- many Rhagonycha fulva (Hogweed Bonking-beetle)
- my first-ever hoverfly Scaeva pyrastri
- lots of the common Episyrphus balteatus (Marmalade Hoverfly)
- a rather attractive but unidentified red and black probable ground bug sp.

So worth the trip.

A female Black-tailed Skimmer – so different from the mainly blue-bodied male.

And a real close-up of the working bit – and this is how it came off the camera! Note the right hind-wing shows signs of wear!

This attractive fellow has defeated me. The way the ends of the wings are folded suggests this is a ground bug sp. rather than a beetle sp. I can find nothing in my reference books that fits.

These are not new but it is an interesting photo: this is a so-called mating wheel of Blue-tailed Damselflies. Note just how hairy the male is (I am sure the female is as well if the light is right). The female is holding her wings partly open – whether in ecstasy or just to keep her balance is up to you to decide.

Only the male is crisply in focus but we can see the female is indeed somewhat hairy.

And looking up at them what amazing colour eyes.


This is the hoverfly Scaeva pyrastri. This is a migrant species with colonists from June onwards establishing a breeding population to provide our own generation in late summer. I suppose with global warming it is possible that some can / will over-winter. It is a new species for me.

A female Common Darter. The males are rather slimmer than females as well as being red in colour.

Fine view of a Nephrotoma flavescens or Tiger Crane-fly ....

... it is a rather startling insect from this view!

(Ed Wilson)

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Otmoor RSPB Reserve
6 Jul 15
Otmoor
Location

A morning visit before the rain set in.

Birding highlights
- drumming Snipe overhead
- calling and distant Turtle Dove
- 2 distant but very unexpected Common Cranes
- female Marsh Harrier
- distant Hobbies
- great views of Garden Warbler – usually hiding away inside cover

Insect highlights
- Narrow-bordered Five-spot Burnet moths
- Silver-Y moth
- Marbled White butterfly
- Gatekeeper butterfly
- Brown Hawker
- Red-eyed Damselfly

Also several Small Skippers which I did not check properly: the underside of the antenna tips need to be examined to separate from Essex Skipper. It is only with the upsurge in digital photography and the relative ease of examining this feature that it has been realised how widespread Essex Skipper is.

Complete species list of birds
Mute Swan, Greylag Goose, Canada Goose, Gadwall, Mallard, Tufted Duck, Cormorant, Little Egret, Grey Heron, Little Grebe, Great Crested Grebe, Red Kite, Marsh Harrier, Common Buzzard, Hobby, Moorhen, Coot, Crane, Lapwing, Snipe, Common Tern, Black-headed Gull, Wood Pigeon, Turtle Dove, Swift, Magpie, Carrion Crow, Raven, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Skylark, Sand Martin, Barn Swallow, Cetti’s Warbler, Long-tailed Tit, Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Garden Warbler, Sedge Warbler, Reed Warbler, Wren, Starling, Blackbird, Song Thrush, Robin, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Linnet, Bullfinch, Reed Bunting (50 species)
Complete species list of butterflies
Small Skipper, Large Skipper, Large White, Small White, Common Blue, Small Tortoiseshell, Marbled White, Gatekeeper, Meadow Brown, Ringlet

List of identified damsel / dragonflies
Some hawkers were seen and not identified but probably included both Emperor Dragonflies and Southern Hawkers.
Large Red Damselfly, Azure Damselfly, Common Blue Damselfly, Red-eyed Damselfly, Blue-tailed Damselfly, Black-tailed Skimmer, Common Darter 

Juvenile Long-tailed Tit.

And about to fly away!

This is only a Meadow Brown but look how the light is catching it and making it gloss green. The flower is likely Creeping Thistle (Cirsium arvense)

A Small White on a similar thistle. Here where size is difficult to establish the best separation is the extent and strength of the marks on the wing-tips: darker and more extensive on the Large White

I believe this to be the blue form of the female Common Blue Damselfly

This is a male Azure Damselfly – look at segment 2 and the mark is usually described as a ‘wine glass’! It is clearly not the club-shape of Common Blue Damselfly

Here is a Gatekeeper – the two white dots in the black spot identify

Plenty of Reed Buntings around: here a male

This a male Common Darter

This is, I think, a Narrow-bordered Five-spot Burnet moth. Identification of burnets is not straightforward and has traditionally been based largely on range. Recent work has suggested that this is not as clear-cut as thought.

Some great views of Red Kite are possible

Another bird

I did hope this Red Kite was carrying a snake, but it seems only to be a twig

A butterfly I have yet to see in Shropshire – Marbled White

On this horse fly the eyes meet so it is a male. The fact that it is at a flower rather than looking for someone to bite is another clue that it is not a female. Species – well seems to be Atylotus rusticus (Four-lined Horsefly)

In this view we see some faint bands across the abdomen, these are lacking on the very similar Atylotus fulvus (Golden Horsefly) which has an abdomen that looks more vividly yellow as it is covered in short hairs – here the abdomen is almost bare.

This is a female (or immature) Common Darter

Another view shows the rather typical wings-forward posture at rest

A female Red-eyed Damselfly

and again

Record shot of distant Hobby. Even at this range the long-winged ‘jizz’ with the strong head pattern enables positive ID.

A female Marsh Harrier floats across in the distance

Even at long – very long! – range there is no mistaking a crane – here a Common Crane. The only other remote possibility would be Demoiselle Crane and the dark on the neck would extend much further on that species.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash
6 Jul 15

There was a lot of activity on The Flash this morning. Sadly, only 3 of the cygnets are with their mother. She is looking rather thin. There are about 40 Canada Geese being kept in order by the Cob Swan. The Mallard chicks are down to 3 from 4 originally. One Grebe with chick seen, keeping company with 8 Mallard juveniles. Couple of Coots seen, also one coot chick with parent on Island Inlet. The Grey Heron has been much in evidence this last week, although not today.

Still puzzled by the erection of a red and white umbrella placed on a pole at the Island over a week ago by an elderly man who waded out to the Island. Anyone know what this is for?

Also 3 House Martins just flying around nearby. Seem to be heading northwards. (Ann Dewhurst)


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Priorslee Lake
5 Jul 15

Priorslee Lake (Ron Baker)

Priorslee Lake (Ron Baker)


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Llanymynech Rocks
5 Jul 15

This afternoon I went to the Shropshire Wildlife Trust reserve at Llanymynech Rocks

General view of part of the Shropshire Wildlife Trust reserve at Llanymynech Rocks

There were 100s of Pyramidal Orchids (Anacamptis pyramidalis) – complete with unidentified beetle sp.

And banks of Common Spotted Orchids.

This was a pleasant surprise: my first Shropshire Spotted Flycatcher of the year just sneaking in – less than 100 yards from the Welsh border.

Part of the stunning vista from the outlook – here across Wales.

I still need to identify this attractive flower.

The common Longhorn beetle Strangalia maculata on Hogweed (Heracleum sphondylium).

Hawker dragonflies are difficult to photograph as they often patrol their territories for hours without apparently resting – and difficult to identify in flight. When the cloud comes up they seem to vanish. This one was perching momentarily and then flying around again but I managed this shot. The ‘waisted’ body is an easy way to identify Southern Hawker (Aeshna cyanea). The unmarked and coloured final two segments are also diagnostic. In flight the ‘waist’ can sometimes be seen.

(Ed Wilson)

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3 Jul 15
Whixall Moss:
Location

This afternoon at Whixall Moss I added Stonechat, Brimstone butterfly to the year list. Better added Large Heath to my life-list! No photos of this sadly but some other photos to be checked may also add White-faced Damselfly to my life list. Got there just as the sun went behind high cloud which dampened the insect activity and the hoped-for Hobbies failed to appear. (Ed Wilson)

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29 Jun 15
The Flash

Further to the main report today, both Mute Swans were present. The four cygnets are growing apace, and just at pre-feather stage. A wonderful photo opportunity missed. The Cob and Pen are spending much more time together, although the cob is still enjoying chasing off the many Canada Geese. There was one Great Crested Grebe with chick, and I was delighted to see the four new Mallard chicks, as well as the previous 8 juveniles all thriving. Additionally, there is an influx of Greylags. The wild flowers are in abundant variety, but have been well documented on the main blog. (Ann Dewhurst)

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8 Jun 15
Ham Wall

Some notes from RSPB Reserve at Ham Wall in Somerset. 10:30am - 5:30pm

This reserve gained some notoriety in 2013 as the site for breeding Little Bittern but in my usual myopic way I had completely forgotten that. When it was suggested we might have a day out at Ham Wall my initial thoughts were “where? why?”. A look at the web-site – mainly to find where the h*** it was – promised good things – booming Bitterns, Marsh Harriers and lots of dragonflies and butterflies. So why not?

What a splendid day we had and I can thoroughly recommend a visit. NO facilities whatsoever on site though. Just a huge car park and several hides and blinds. Getting there is not well signposted but the signs on-site and leaflets are spot-on.

10:30am is not an ideal start time for birding but it is a long way from home and the M6 Monday rush-hour was not kind. However at least all the insects were up and about by the time we got going.

Highlights
- 4 Bitterns seen well in flight and more heard booming.
- 3 Great White Egrets in the air together was a surprise: a few Little Egrets as well.
- several (rather distant) Marsh Harriers, both males and females.
- exciting flying by those aerial masters of pursuit – Hobbies.
- point-blank views of a family of Garden Warblers.
- point-blank view of a singing Cetti’s Warbler (and dozens of others singing and / or glimpsed)
- a juvenile Blackcap wrestling with a Four-spotted Chaser dragonfly.
- the ponds awash with Gadwall – 100s present.
- breeding Redshank – new for me this year.

And
- 100s and 100s of Four-spotted Chasers
- several Banded Demoiselle damselflies

Other ‘common’ species we logged
Mute Swan, Greylag Goose, Canada Goose, Mallard, Pochard, Tufted Duck, Cormorant, Grey Heron, Little Grebe, Great Crested Grebe, Buzzard, Water Rail, Moorhen, Coot, Common Tern, Black-headed Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Herring Gull, Stock Dove, Wood Pigeon, Swift, Kingfisher, Magpie, Jackdaw, Rook, Carrion Crow, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Barn Swallow, House Martin, Long-tailed Tit, Chiffchaff, Common Whitethroat, Sedge Warbler, Reed Warbler, Wren, Blackbird, Song Thrush, Robin, Dunnock, Chaffinch, Greenfinch and Reed Bunting

Other things
- Large White, Red Admiral, Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock and Speckled Wood butterflies
- Common and Blue-tailed Damselflies, Common Darters and just 1 Hawker-type Dragonfly which I have yet to identify.
- 5 different species of moth – all species that I have seen around the lake (though not all this year as yet)
- Marsh Frogs were heard – very noisy
Many flowers, which I did not log.

Bittern in flight.

Hobby racing past! The strength of the face mark and the blue-grey upperwings and back identify. Many field guides like to show the red ‘trousers’ but I find this hard to see in the field when you are often looking against the light.

Here we see it in very typical silhouette with long narrow wings, occasionally looking rather Swift-like though again field guides seem to me to over-emphasise this feature.

And another typical silhouette – dismantling a dragonfly meal.

There no confusion here between the Great White Egret seen here and Little Egret. The big kink in the neck gives the game away. And Little Egret would show yellow feet unless it had been recently standing in mud. Its legs would appear proportionally shorter.

This a Reed Warbler. Apart from a very different song a (rare!) Marsh Warbler would not show any rufous tinge on the rump as shown here.
And in typical bill-open singing profile.

Four-spotted Chaser – named after the spots at the bend in the middle of each forewing. The marks toward the tip of each forewing are called the pterostigma and are present on all damsel- and dragon- flies.

A slightly different view: I never cease to wonder at the intricacy of the wing venation and also how ‘hairy’ these insects are.

And a another different take!

And yet another – about to disappear inside a juvenile Blackcap! On this bird you can see the rather pale rufous-brown cap that juveniles of both sexes have and the pale gape mark of a recently fledged bird.

A mating-wheel of Blue-tailed Damselflies – the male is the blue one.

And another. Don’t worry there is nothing strange going on here: in this instance the female is also blue!

A male Banded Demoiselle damselfly. The rather similar Beautiful Demoiselle has an entirely opaque wing. It is also a different colour but these species change colour depending on the angle of the light so this is not an entirely reliable guide unless you are familiar with them.

We can only see the top half here: it is a hawker dragonfly at rest, probably a female but possibly a recently emerged male.

And can see slightly more of the body here but the wings are not shown so clearly.

This seems to be the Cardinal Beetle Pyrochroa coccinea.

A bit hidden but this moth is Udea olivalis, sometimes known as Olive Pearl. It has yet to appear at the lake this year.

Note:
More on Ham Wall Nature Reserve Here.

(Ed Wilson)

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2 Jun 15
The Flash


The Mute Swan cygnets are reduced to 4 in number. Not surprising as the cob seems very disinterested in this pen. He seems to spend his day alone, attacking the geese and anything else that irritates him. He was very close to the previous partner, and spent all his Time with her, but not this one.

Four Coot chicks on the south east pool, 2 on the main pool east by the outlet and 2 on the north east pool. Male Great Crested Grebe with beautiful splayed crest seen and a solitary Greylag Goose last evening.

Second day of being bombarded by House Martins. Looks as though they are either feeding or building in our eaves. Beautiful to see them darting about. (Ann Dewhurst)

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17 May 15
The Flash

Hurrah, there are 5 rather large cygnets out with mum and dad in front of our house this morning. I was so worried, as couldn't see the cob on the island this morning. What a relief! (Ann Dewhurst)


Meet the family (Ann Dewhurst)

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15 May 15
The Flash

The cob has been sitting on the island for the last three days, looking very fed up. No sign of the pen. A Great Crested Grebe was at the north end of the Flash with two chicks last evening. On the west pool were a pair of Coots with one tiny chick. (Ann Dewhurst)


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11 May 15
The Flash

Both swans out on The Flash today in bright sunlight. No cygnets present. I wonder if the geese men made a mistake with the eggs? She came out to the Cob whilst they were on her end of the island previously. My first sight of her. (Ann Dewhurst)

 
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10 May 15
The Flash

Cob has been guarding and waiting at the inlet of the island all day. It looks as though hatching may be imminent. The midwife, aka the Aylesbury duck has gone in at 7 pm tonight. Do hope the Pen is okay. 3 men in a boat went on the island two days ago for a third visit. (Ann Dewhurst)


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9 May 15
Weald Moor
Map

In the afternoon I visited a favourite farm pool on the edge of the Weald Moor – a very small pool in which, amazingly, I have found Long-tailed Duck and Grey Phalarope. The farmland has provided Quail and the fast disappearing Grey Partridge. I went in search of Cuckoo that still seems to be regular in the area.

I was not disappointed in hearing a distant bird. Seeing it was rather put to one side when I noticed an Arctic Tern fishing the pool. I spent the next 90 minutes trying to get some photos, some of which are below. The flying bird was not too difficult but following the twists and turns as it dived for fish was a different matter. Unlike Common Terns this species does not ‘step dive’, pausing to check the location of the fish, but plummets straight down. And again unlike Common Tern it almost never enters the water, snatching prey from just below the surface. With the pool surrounded by embankments and trees the background light-level was changing as the bird flew around. Hence I have had to make a few adjustments to most of the pictures.

As a footnote, and after the passage of hirundines at Priorslee Lake this morning, there were well over 200 Swallows passing through the pool, many drinking as they went. I was concentrating on the tern and did not make a proper count but it was clearly a sizeable movement and more reminiscent of Autumn passage of family parties. A few Sand Martins were with them but I neither saw nor heard Swifts or House Martins.

A classic flight shot showing the neat dark trailing edge to the primaries which are otherwise clean-looking; and the long tail-streamers, the outermost feather looking as if it has a dark shaft. I must say that in this view the bill does not look especially short (for a tern).

Seen from above the shape of the black on the head in more ‘capped’ than on Common Tern on which the black would extend further down the nape.

Another view of the clean-looking primaries. We can also note that the bill does not seem to have a black tip. Common Tern bills are orange, usually with a black tip: those of Arctic Tern are red, usually without a black tip. I think, as we will see, it is a trick of the light that makes it look orange here.

Rather overblown but to make a point: the bill is clearly red here. Also note that there seems to be a small fish in the bill.

There is no mistaking this as a red bill!

Another picture rather overblown to make a point – the bird has just plucked the fish from the water and a stream of droplets follows it away. Note the small splash indicating that only the bill and at most part of the head entered the water and not the body. You could not, well I couldn't anyway, see this with the naked eye. It is just a pity it wasn't sunny with enough light to get a crisper original that would take enlargement better.

(Ed Wilson)

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4 May 15
Whixall Moss: 15:36 – 17:16
Location

(1st visit of year)

Birds added to my year list were Curlew, Cuckoo and Whinchat (this latter my first in Shropshire for at least 5 years and a complete surprise)

Other notable records
- Teal heard calling: I would have expected them to be long-gone N and E
- many Shoveler flying around and assume they are nesting here
- pair of Oystercatchers on the flood

Birds I would have expected to see and didn't (in decreasing likelihood of seeing) included Stonechat, Wheatear, Grasshopper Warbler, Hobby and Marsh Harrier.

(Ed Wilson)

Note:
More on Whixall Moss Here


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22 Apr 15
Priorslee Flash
Map

Sad to hear about demise of the 2012 juvenile Swan. The resident cob on The Flash seems very lonely now. I haven't seen sight of a partner, unless already on the nest. However, we do have the first batch of 10 Mallard ducklings this year. (Ann Dewhurst)

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5 Apr 15
Venus Pool
Map

Venus Pool this afternoon.

Snipe in breeding plumage

A Lapwing also in breeding plumage showing why one country name for this bird is Green Plover.

A fine drake Pintail, complete with pin-tail

A drake Shoveler takes a bath and gives the Pintail a shower

A drake Teal in breeding plumage: just look at those vermiculations along the flanks.

A male Chaffinch: full of surprising subtle colours when well-seen

I don’t like to do ‘feeder shots’ really but this male Great Spotted Woodpecker licking his lips was too hard to resist

A male Greenfinch is a handsome bird in full breeding plumage

(Ed Wilson)

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10 Mar 15
Priorslee Flash

At the Flash today the Mute Swan Blue 7HXE was picked up today, dead, by Cuan Wildlife Rescue Much Wenlock. I guess killed by resident male. (Martin Grant)

Also a follow up to Martin's News above: The cob Mute Swan with his new partner (blue 7HJJ) today: no sign of 7HXE this morning. I saw the swan 7HXE yesterday afternoon at about 4:00pm, collapsed and, I believe, dying with the cob standing over it with what I took to be threatening gestures. I contacted the RSPCA at the time and reported it and it wasn't there today so I assume they have collected it. (Lois Holt)

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4 Mar 15
Priorslee Flash

A pair of Goosander on The Flash today, diving for fish. Shovelers spent a couple of days. Now gone. A pair of Grebe seen last week. (Ann Dewhurst)

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3 Mar 15
Stiperstones
Map

A shower over Long Mynd from The Stiperstones.

Spring(?) on the Shropshire Hills.

The ring of trees is at Bromlow Callow: from above Snailbeach.

Not very cooperative: a Red Grouse takes to cover.

Just a stunning day to be on the hills.

(Ed Wilson)

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1 Mar 15
Aqualate Mere
Location of Hide

At the hide at Aqualate Mere: this is about 3 miles from my house (and a lot closer than Priorslee!). It is in Staffordshire (West Midlands Bird Club area) and amazingly it was only my second-ever visit. When a Bittern flew across just after I arrived (no photo sadly as I was still scanning the water) I decided I ought to visit more often. When I took a few ‘snaps’ with the following results I confirmed that as the right decision!

Photos are Here.

(Ed Wilson)

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Ecuador 2015

Just in from Ed Wilson these amazing photos from his recent trip to Ecuador. View Album Here

This a Grey Tinamou. This species has been very rarely seen but within the last few weeks one or more birds have been, at dusk, coming to grain at a feeding station in the forest near the lodge we were staying in. Fewer than 100 birders have seen this bird and I was the only one on the trip to get an almost sharp image. (Ed Wilson)

White-edged Oriole (Ed Wilson)

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24th February 2015
Colemere and Wood Lane

Colemere: 2:39pm - 2:58pm
Map

(1st visit of the year)

A brief stop here showed very little of real interest
- c.25 Goosander among the Great Crested Grebes on the far side
- 6 Cormorants
- at least 5 Common Gulls in with the c.200 Black-headed Gulls

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Wood Lane: 3:01pm - 3:53pm

(1st visit of the year)

A visit to one of the hides at the Shropshire Wildlife Trust site produced the following of note
- 8 Shelduck
- 2 Oystercatchers
- 1 of the c.150 Lapwings was a strange pale bird – a leucistic specimen?
- c.20 Snipe
- c.10 Common Gulls in with mainly Black-headed Gulls: some of these were displaying even though most were yet o acquire breeding plumage.

A rather pale Lapwing in this group (with Starlings). This lack of pigmentation is called leucism. Such birds are easy for predators to single-out and hence the genetic mutation that causes it tends not to propagate.

The degree of paleness varied with the angle of viewing: here it is much less striking than in the previous shot.

Not a text-book shot of a Snipe but here the bird is stretching its wings and exposing the white-tipped chestnut marked tail-feathers that are normally covered ...

... and here the barred feathers on the flanks, also usually covered except in flight!

Note: More info on Wood Lane Here

(Ed Wilson)

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14th February 2015

Priorslee Flash

3 male and 2 female Goosanders on The Flash this afternoon. Swimming like whirligigs in circles back and forth. Creamy white with rufus wings and dark heads. Couldn't get close enough to film. (Ann Dewhurst )
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9th February 2015
Venus Pool
Map

An afternoon visit to Venus Pool failed to locate any Whooper or Bewick's Swans in the area but I added to my 2015 year list
c.50 Teal
Shelduck
Oystercatcher
>130 Lapwing
Snipe
c.20 Yellowhammer
As well as Rabbit and Brown Rat

Frustrating was what appeared to be a small wader that dived in to cover on the vegetated island and refused to show again. Dunlin-sized but looked paler: and a Dunlin would not usually stay hidden. So what else could that be at this date?

(Ed Wilson)

A Lapwing and Snipe sleep it off. The pale fringes to the Lapwing’s feathers are a winter feature and abrade off to make the glossy green wing of a breeding adult.

The sun catching the ‘gloss’ perfectly here on these two Lapwing.

Spot the interloper. An immature Black-headed Gull with an identity crisis.

A Snipe busy feeding – head up at the moment. The tip of the beak is flexible and can be opened to pick food underground.

A drake Teal, a rather scruffy Oystercatcher and winter Black-headed Gull.

A fine trio of Shoveler: 2 drakes of course, the left bird yet to acquire full breeding plumage – perhaps a 1st winter bird. They typically swim as well as feed with bill partly or wholly in the water which can cause ID difficulty when they are not in breeding plumage.

Some drakes look rather better than others. The equivalent of a spotty teenager?

The Shelduck stayed at a distance. The red knob atop the base of the bill indicates this is a drake. These birds, like Oystercatchers, are early migrants. Only some wintering geese that leave in January precede them.

The local Jackdaw has now mastered this feeder as well. An evil eye!

A male Great Spotted Woodpecker surveys the feeders for danger.

Well I think they are quite cute: they are certainly intelligent and the fact they carry some nasty diseases is hardly their fault. But I will probably not have this Brown Rat as a pet.

(Ed Wilson)

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6th December 2014
Trench Pool and Middle Pool

I looked at your website to help me identify what I saw on Middle Pool this morning and it is a rather splendid male Goosander. I also see on Trench Pool the little Long-tailed Duck every time I walk to the local shops. This was confirmed by the bird watchers there and they kindly let me have a
closer look with their camera as I walked past with my dogs. I've only been in the area a few months and beginning to take a keener interest in what's on the water here. I can't go far though since I don't have a car. The local info is well appreciated. With thanks. Regards, (Joyce Hughes)

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4th December 2014
Venus Pool

A few images from Venus Pool today.

A Rook and drake Mallard confront each other while a female Chaffinch looks on. Rooks are usually birds of open country and it is unusual to see them in the enclosed area of the Venus Pool feeders. Note the characteristic shaggy trousers and the pale skin at the base of the very pointed bill.

And a Jackdaw joins in. This species is more likely to be seen at bird tables but it is still rather unusual for them to go inside a wooded area.

Proving that birds are ever the opportunists when food is on offer. Both the Jackdaw and the Rook try their hand (bill!) at raiding the feeder. Note the glossy blue sheen on the Rook. Despite their very similar overall size and appearance (Carrion) Crows are never glossy even though they are in the genus, Corvus, as Rooks.

(Ed Wilson)

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9th August 2014

Priorslee Flash:

We visited the Flash today to feed the Mute Swans. Both the cob (Yellow 52F) and the cygnet from last year (Blue 7HXE) are doing fine. We saw one baby grebe catching his/her own food and also saw two of the turtles/terrapins sunning themselves. (Jo & Ron Haseman)

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25th May 2014

Priorslee Flash:

Three new Coot chicks on The Flash last evening. The yellow Iris are out, and the coots are sitting on a plume of reeds amongst these on the east pond. Also saw a rat on the West Bank. Two Greylags with the Canada Geese today, and lots of Swifts again this morning. (Ann Dewhurst)

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25th March 2014

Priorslee Flash:

We saw two Great Crested Grebes on the Flash yesterday round about 11:00am. The male Swan and a baby from last year are still with us. The baby who stayed and looked after the previous babies when the mother died last year went quite a while ago. (Jo & Ron Haseman)

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10th February 2014

Priorslee Flash:

Cob Yellow 52F Yellow, and cygnet Blue 7HXE are still keeping company on The Flash. We have had a constant Heron presence, with two Grey Herons flying over, and roosting on the island on varying days. Ducks and drakes seem to be pairing up. Plenty of Coots, Moorhens, and Tufted ducks on the lake. One of the funniest things I've seen, was the Chinese Goose pretending to be the Cob, leading a flotilla of Canada Geese. Also, saw a lone Diver a week ago, which is quite unusual. (Ann Dewhurst)

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4th January 2014

Priorslee Flash:

Our resident cob, and one cygnet remained over the Christmas period on The Flash. Today was eventful, with a visiting adult Swan, which got short shrift from our cob. Also, had a visit from a Grey Heron on the N.W. of the Flash, which after standing in the reeds, walked along the fishermens' pathway amongst shrubbery. There seem to be more Coots and Moorhens than usual, and plenty of ducks and geese, as well as at least three kinds of seagulls in flocks.

(Ann Dewhurst)

2013 Readers Entries are available on request.