Saturday 14 November 2015

Midweek Starlings and Saturday 14th November


Confiding Goldcrest (c) Francis Joseph
A visit to the starling roost this week was not very different to the visit the week before. Once again the birds came in in quite large flocks of between two hundred and a thousand strong, but yet again they dived straight into the reeds without any skydancing spectaculars. Again the numbers were spectacular but not the display.
Highlights of my visit were two exceptionally confiding Goldcrests that were so close and so unafraid that no binoculars were neccessary. In addition a lone juvenile Swallow was also over the screen and the reedbed , certainly the latest record that I have ever seen. As we walked back along the bridleway a Bittern got up from the ditch beside the track and flew along the hedgetop and then out toawards the reedbed.
Kestrel (c) Tom Nicholson-Lailey
Today the rain put a real damper on things but the morning was not without some sightings. Over eighty Wigeon are now feeding on the grass in front of the hide and the Linnet flock is growing rapidly and must number well over sixty. They are accompanied by good numbers of Reed Buntings, Chaffinches and one lone male Yellowhammer that stands out brightly from the rest.
Harrir Kite interaction (c) Derek Lane
The bittern flew across the reedbed and one of the unmarked Marsh Harriers patrolled the lagoons flushing up Shovellers as it went. A Kestrel watched lots of Fieldfares and Redwings in the hedge and Herons were seemingly on every pathway, clearly hunting small mammals.
Harrier over the reeds (c) Tom Nicholson-Lailey

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