Dear all,
Today's birding trip began at Oare in bright sunshine which I hoped would bring any migrants out into the open for my enjoyment. The previous evening I'd entertained the hope of finding a Ring Ouzel at Oare since there had been a number of reports of this species from coastal localities in the south and east during the past few days.
I began by walking along the footpath to overlook the West Lagoon. THe tide was quite low but gradually rising which was fortunate.
Two Whimbrels were preening on the exposed foreshore and a party of three Common Terns screeched their way downriver.
After scrutinising the West Lagoon I'd seen:
2 Little Egrets
The drake Garganey was asleep with a few Teal for company.
A lone Greenshank was in the far west end.
5 Black-Tailed Godwits
8 Avocets
The escaped drake Chiloe Wigeon was pursuing a female Wigeon and was doing his best to woo her away from his european counterpart who wasn't at all keen on the idea. If the Chiloe is successful and a brood is raised, I'd suggest caution in claiming a distant American Wigeon without having first eliminated Chiloe x Wigeon hybrid ( hands up who saw the Eyebrook Reservoir bird several years ago?). OK, I admit it - I did.
Walking further westwards and checking likely Ouzel pastures revealed nothing. Two Marsh Harriers were hunting in the area though. I reached the small private copse with rather amusing 'No Through Road ' sign - surely only a tank could try to use that overgrown track as a road? If only 'That's Life' were still on TV, Esther may have found it rather amusing.
I digress. Nothing was happening in the wood. Just a Blackbird feeding on the grassy area so I may as well return to the car, hang on a minute - Ring Ouzel!!! And there it was in all its glory, looking jet black with a big white horseshoe stamped on its chest. Then it was gone. Unable to believe my prediction had come true, I mentally kicked myself for not buying a lottery ticket yesterday - I probably would have won!
Patiently I waited and it showed again. I went over the style and ventured a little farther. There it was at the base of a bush. Then, to my surprise, another Ring Ouzel joined it. Fantastic.
I videod these birds which were subtly different - one seemed slightly browner in strong light and the gorget slightly more flecked with brown. Maybe one was a slightly younger male than the other? I didn't consider one to be a female, but I may be wrong. Both are included in the photos below (don't ask me which is which though!).
By this time a confiding female Kestrel was posing for a photo on a post. It was so close I could see its dark claws - I'm not THAT lucky!
To cap it all, where the tide was almost high a flock of 60 Whimbrels were grouped on the strip of mud before flying inland onto the fields.
The next stop was further east at Chambers Wall SE of Reculver where the Woodchat Shrike brought me down to Earth by showing at 300yards range in the heat haze. Perhaps you can spot it in the photo?
This was a thoroughly enjoyable day and I may even have got a bit of a tan into the bargain (but I'd have preferred a Lesser Kestrel!).
Lancey
Today's birding trip began at Oare in bright sunshine which I hoped would bring any migrants out into the open for my enjoyment. The previous evening I'd entertained the hope of finding a Ring Ouzel at Oare since there had been a number of reports of this species from coastal localities in the south and east during the past few days.
I began by walking along the footpath to overlook the West Lagoon. THe tide was quite low but gradually rising which was fortunate.
Two Whimbrels were preening on the exposed foreshore and a party of three Common Terns screeched their way downriver.
After scrutinising the West Lagoon I'd seen:
2 Little Egrets
The drake Garganey was asleep with a few Teal for company.
A lone Greenshank was in the far west end.
5 Black-Tailed Godwits
8 Avocets
The escaped drake Chiloe Wigeon was pursuing a female Wigeon and was doing his best to woo her away from his european counterpart who wasn't at all keen on the idea. If the Chiloe is successful and a brood is raised, I'd suggest caution in claiming a distant American Wigeon without having first eliminated Chiloe x Wigeon hybrid ( hands up who saw the Eyebrook Reservoir bird several years ago?). OK, I admit it - I did.
Walking further westwards and checking likely Ouzel pastures revealed nothing. Two Marsh Harriers were hunting in the area though. I reached the small private copse with rather amusing 'No Through Road ' sign - surely only a tank could try to use that overgrown track as a road? If only 'That's Life' were still on TV, Esther may have found it rather amusing.
I digress. Nothing was happening in the wood. Just a Blackbird feeding on the grassy area so I may as well return to the car, hang on a minute - Ring Ouzel!!! And there it was in all its glory, looking jet black with a big white horseshoe stamped on its chest. Then it was gone. Unable to believe my prediction had come true, I mentally kicked myself for not buying a lottery ticket yesterday - I probably would have won!
Patiently I waited and it showed again. I went over the style and ventured a little farther. There it was at the base of a bush. Then, to my surprise, another Ring Ouzel joined it. Fantastic.
I videod these birds which were subtly different - one seemed slightly browner in strong light and the gorget slightly more flecked with brown. Maybe one was a slightly younger male than the other? I didn't consider one to be a female, but I may be wrong. Both are included in the photos below (don't ask me which is which though!).
By this time a confiding female Kestrel was posing for a photo on a post. It was so close I could see its dark claws - I'm not THAT lucky!
To cap it all, where the tide was almost high a flock of 60 Whimbrels were grouped on the strip of mud before flying inland onto the fields.
The next stop was further east at Chambers Wall SE of Reculver where the Woodchat Shrike brought me down to Earth by showing at 300yards range in the heat haze. Perhaps you can spot it in the photo?
This was a thoroughly enjoyable day and I may even have got a bit of a tan into the bargain (but I'd have preferred a Lesser Kestrel!).
Lancey
