[Gertatron]

Originally Posted by upstarts1979

The Lapwing has turned inside out
You don't realise until your capture how acrobatic they can be.

Gert, do you think it is the same LRP as yesterday.

Yeah, I reckon it is mate

[toadoftoadhall]

fantastic shots Binus, beautiful.

[hagar1]

Spent a few hours today at both moors and flashes today 3 Avocet, 2 LRP, 3 curlew 6 Oystercatcher (2 flashes 4 moors) 6 GCG on the sailing lake with at least 5 chiffchaff singing in the summer sunshine.

[PeterE]

Originally Posted by hagar1

Spent a few hours today at both moors and flashes today 3 Avocet, 2 LRP, 3 curlew 6 Oystercatcher (2 flashes 4 moors) 6 GCG on the sailing lake with at least 5 chiffchaff singing in the summer sunshine.

Some footnotes:

Two of the avocets investigated two of the smaller islands very closely and looked as if they were about to take up residence, or at least to mate, but they just wandered back into the water.

At the Moors one pair of oystercatchers also seemed to be house-hunting on various islands; they were also extremely vociferous in tandem. Is this part of their mating ritual?

Yes, the GCGs seem to be the dominant species on the Sailing Pool at the moment.

Peter

[upstarts1979]

Originally Posted by PeterE

Some footnotes:

Two of the avocets investigated two of the smaller islands very closely and looked as if they were about to take up residence, or at least to mate, but they just wandered back into the water.

At the Moors one pair of oystercatchers also seemed to be house-hunting on various islands; they were also extremely vociferous in tandem. Is this part of their mating ritual?

Yes, the GCGs seem to be the dominant species on the Sailing Pool at the moment.

Peter

Hi Peter yes that is part of the breeding activity. You also see the two pairs at the moors squaring up to each other in territorial disputes. When all 4 birds stand side by side, frantically calling, facing downwards with wings drooping by their side. It rarely ends up in a fight more of a posturing threat, possibly a case of the loudest pair wins.John

[upstarts1979]

Originally Posted by hagar1

Spent a few hours today at both moors and flashes today 3 Avocet, 2 LRP, 3 curlew 6 Oystercatcher (2 flashes 4 moors) 6 GCG on the sailing lake with at least 5 chiffchaff singing in the summer sunshine.

Hi Mark
I think we all thought spring had started last week, but as ever the NW winds arrive and it all slows down , until the SE winds come.see you tomorrow hopefully.
John

[Duck_Pond]

I popped into see the new hide on Sat afternoon. Didn't venture upstairs as I got called away, but seems decent enough. Good low angle from the downstairs area and comfortable enough too. Slightly restrictive windows, but I guess it's my fault for having a bazooka...

Some pics from that afternoon and more on my Flickr page. Fab displays by the lapwings. Avocets sadly kept their distance.

[hagar1]

Originally Posted by upstarts1979

Hi Mark
I think we all thought spring had started last week, but as ever the NW winds arrive and it all slows down , until the SE winds come.see you tomorrow hopefully.
John

Hi John see you tomorrow

[waterrailus]

Originally Posted by upstarts1979

Hi Peter yes that is part of the breeding activity. You also see the two pairs at the moors squaring up to each other in territorial disputes. When all 4 birds stand side by side, frantically calling, facing downwards with wings drooping by their side. It rarely ends up in a fight more of a posturing threat, possibly a case of the loudest pair wins.John

Ah so thats what they are doing. I thought one of them had dropped a contact lens! Its a pic i took last year from East hide. cheers Dennis

[Sy V]

That's it... it's called "Piping" (IIRC) but north of the border I've also heard it referred to as "Drilling".

[timmyjones]

Originally Posted by waterrailus

Ah so thats what they are doing. I thought one of them had dropped a contact lens! Its a pic i took last year from East hide. cheers Dennis

Haha, ace photo Dennis!

[forgetfulelephant]

9 Avocets at the flashes. Mating/nest building behaviour. All appedar to be feeding well.

Rob

[binus1963]

Originally Posted by upstarts1979

These are really quality shots, of my favourite bird.
Mind you Trace, Gert was having an good bash at some flight shots today. Were they taken on the ground floor of the new hide?
John
ps. still got your rucksack mate

pics were from up stairs we just dropped in for 10mins on way back from yellow browed, don't worry about bag had another one twice the size for 2quid last week!

[upstarts1979]

Originally Posted by waterrailus

Ah so thats what they are doing. I thought one of them had dropped a contact lens! Its a pic i took last year from East hide. cheers Dennis

Nice one Dennis,

[upstarts1979]

After the work party spent only a brief time birding around the Moors, before moving on to the Flashes for the roost.
Moors : GCG 4, little grebe, shoveler 8, Teal, gadwall 2 pairs, Tufted c40, Oystercatcher 4, lapwing 2, snipe only 1 seen by the work team,
water rail seen at the concrete hide and 2 at the north moors.
plenty of chiffchaffs calling around the Moors. Mark also had a blackcap singing and a goldcrest sang near the secret garden.

Flashes: teal c10, gadwall male, Avocet 9, Lapwing 14, Oystercatcher 2, Curlew 6, LRP 2, the BHG roost was at reasonable level with no more than 300 present - the large numbers from 2 weeks ago have now thankfully moved on.
Herring gull ad + 2nd summer, coot 12.
Stock dove c5, collared dove ( a rarity at the Flashes), mixed flock of winter thrushes c30.
I will be back with the work party news once I sort out the photos

Sailing pool GCG 13, greylag pair. redpoll 7 in southern end larches

(:John
[/b]ps can't remember seeing shelduck ..did anybody see any?

[oriole boy]

(:John
[/b]ps can't remember seeing shelduck ..did anybody see any?[/quote]

Pair of shelduck were on the moors.

Beautiful day down the mecca today - even joined in with the work-party lads, strimming in the secret garden - a right sun-trap in there, had my shirt off at one stage - easy tiger!

Oh to have grown up children and be retired, I'd be there all the time, planning a new eastern-shore profile, with tower hide in the secret garden, channels from the reed-beds into shallow scrapes and all manner. Must remember to do euro-lottery this week.

Seriously, the reserve is looking absolutely fantastic - a huge shout goes out for all the work-party crews who have worked their socks off - thank-you.

[upstarts1979]

Today we worked on 3 separate projects. And once again a great turn out, with 15 of us doing the business.
1. North Moors reed bed
2. the south west marsh island clearance.
3. secret garden, south view

1. North Moors reed bed work. We planned on cutting a channel through the reeds on the east side of the pool, that could be viewed from the hide. Unfortunately, thinking that the land had dried out, we were pleasantly surprised that the reeds were actually in quite deep water, that was in effect a floating bog.
However we were able to coppice the clump of 7 varying sized willows from the east shore. This will lessen the drying effect in this part of the pool, which at present is very wet and boggy. The reeds had been shaded out in this area and will now be able to expand.
The brash was then used to create a 100 yard long 'dead hedge' in front of the east side plantation. It was linked to the nearby bramble patches. We also strimmed around the bramble patches in front of the bench. This will encourage a more diverse fauna and enable birds to ground forage.
work carried out by: Dave H, Ray C, Paul H (Beyonder), Mark S (Hagar), Charles L, Steve V, Paul A, Paul C (oriole Boy) and me. cheers Lads

Photos
1 (from hide) and 2 (from plantation) of the willow clump to be coppiced
3 and 4 after work
5. dead hedge from SE corner of pool.

[upstarts1979]

2. SW marsh islands
The islands can only be reached by boat, so everything has to be ferried on and off the islands.
6 of the Lads cut the willows on the islands these were then removed to the western boundary fence. The stumps were then treated.

work carried out by: John C, Terry W, Terry N, Matt, Steve and Andy H (WWT officer) cheers Lads

[upstarts1979]

3. Secret garden southern view.
Mark (hagar), Paul C (Oriole boy) and Paul A, cut the rough grassland and rank herbaceous vegetation that is overlooked from the southern viewing screen. Once the vegetation was removed and raked up the area became very wet, in time with a bit of tweaking this could be an interesting habitat.

work carried out by: Mark S , Paul C and Paul A cheers Lads

[Sy V]

4 LRP and 14 Avocets at Flashes all morning thus far.

[upstarts1979]

Practised a bit with my camera on the Avo's, the bright sun causes me a problem with the contrasting black and white.

I dare say the next few weeks will see a lot of pics of these beautiful birds.
I took these from upstairs talking to Rob E yesterday he told me the 'togs' prefer the downstairs for their pics, will try it down there on Friday.
John

[Whoever]

1. Quick question, once again: What does the abbreviation "pol." stand for with regards to bird sightings?
2. @John and his Avocets shots: I am not sure, but I think I read once that a higher A-Value (smaller opening of the lens) can help with these stark black & white contrasts a little. Worth a try, maybe.

[upstarts1979]

Originally Posted by Whoever

1. Quick question, once again: What does the abbreviation "pol." stand for with regards to bird sightings?
2. @John and his Avocets shots: I am not sure, but I think I read once that a higher A-Value (smaller opening of the lens) can help with these stark black & white contrasts a little. Worth a try, maybe.

Hi Daniel
re the photos ..I am not much of a photographer and I only have a 'bridge camera' . At present I only set it on Auto. so will try what you say.

re 'pol' don't know that abbreviation..where is it used ?
John

[forgetfulelephant]

I have just received info on the ringed swan which I reported to Slimbridge as one of their birds T26. It is one of the pair that have become resident on the Moors.
1st year (hatch 2005) 04/03/06 R. Severn
17/09/06 R. Avon, Pershore
08/12/07 14/12/07, 09/01/08 R. Severn, Worcester
13/03/09 R. Severn, Worcester
27/06/10 Pershore Wetlands
My report in March at the Moors.
Thought this may be of interest to some of you.
Rob

[upstarts1979]

Over the last few years the hedgerow behind the New hide has been covered in 'wild hop' this has benefits to some insects. However it has also weakened the bushes that support it, such as the hawthorn and elder. Yesterday we noticed that a lot of the elder branches had died and broken off and were hanging over the path, with a lot of bramble also attached. We removed some of the branches on safety grounds and inadvertently created a view of the transmitter field never previously seen. Looking out of the left side window of the hide, you can now see the higher ground (not seen from elsewhere) around the rim of the 'bomb crater'. This will be useful when checking for wagtails and wheatears at passage times. If needs be we could slightly extend this, but will not compromise the benefit of the hedgerow to wildlife - but saying that it appears to be dying in places and we will soon need to plant up sections.
Also the Saline lagoons are now looking ideal for the coming spring breeding and passage waders. On a worrying note the water level has already dropped by 1 cm in the last week, so caution will be the priority with water level manipulation.