Afternoon at Farlington Marsh
Spent the afternoon at Farlington marsh today. Got there around 1pm. The weather was overcast, with a fairly strong wind. Not ideal, especially considering the tripod on my scope is rubbish. Isnt usually too much of a problem though. i like to try and sit or kneel when i'm using the scope cos the tripod is about 2 inches too short for me.
The birds I was aiming to see today were the Black Necked Grebes, which have been seen regularly, but I have yet so see, and I also hoped to get a good view of a Merlin, if one was present. The Lake held the usual wildfowl;
Pintails ,
Wigeon ,
Shoveler ,
Teal,
Mallards and a few
Brent Geese, as well as a few waders; one
Avocet ,
Oystercatchers ,
Grey Plovers ,
Lapwings ,
Dunlin ,
Redshank ,
Black-Tailed Godwits and
Snipe. There were probablly also
Green and
Spotted Redshank as well, but my scope gives such a dull image that it was difficult to scan through the flocks, especially with the wind.
On the water surrounding the marshes there were hundreds of
Brents present, with a few
Shellduck and
Great Crested Grebes dotted around.
Grey Plovers ,
Dunlin ,
Knot ,
Curlew ,
Oystercatchers ,
Turnstones and
Ringed Plovers occupied the few islands not submerged by the tide. The flocks were pretty spectacular, although I doubt they have reached there largest. A few
Greenshank were present in the flocks.
In the Point Fields, and in the hedgerows around most of the reserve were the usual
Stonechats ,
Starlings ,
Wrens ,
Robins ,
Blackbirds ,
Meadow Pipits ,
Gold Finches ,
Green Finches and
Carrion Crows . Also saw a single
Rock Pipit just off the sea wall.
Little Egrets and
Grey Herons were present on the fields as usual, as well as
Canada Geese , and large numbers of
Cormorants were perched on the islands to the East of the reserve, along with the usuals.
A walk to the far North-East of the reserve finally produced the elusive
Black-Necked Grebe . A pair were present at a fair distance, not giving great views. It was around 4pm by this time, so the day was getting pretty dull, but I was still pleased.
A
Kestrel was present for the whole afternoon, mostly being mobbed by Mippets, and a
Fox was hanging around the pond behing the visitors centre. A big flock of gulls, comprising
Black-Headed ,
Common and
Herring, had congregated on the river by this time. Walking back to the car, fairly large flocks of
Pied Wagtails were moving overhead.
So, all in all, not a bad afternoon. Dont think I missed anything in this report. 41 species in total (ish), and a lifer, in the Black Necked Grebes |
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