Young Bird Time

Tuesday, September 1 

We didn't start opening the three moth traps at Natural Surroundings until 9.30. We were finished by 10. Cold days and moonlit nights combined with early Autumn meant a paucity of both number and species. The pick were three Pale Eggars, plus one dead in the bottom of the trap.

Some of us decided to go birding. Unusually, I felt pretty low this morning, a combination of lack of sleep and frustration at my physical inability to just walk for birds. Mostly the latter. I suggested that we did some local searching via Glandford and then Cley Coastguards, where the car park was nearly full. As we pulled in to a place where we could see the sea, David the dog - one of the many Davids distinguished by the fact that he is never without his companion black Labrador named Ben. All his dogs have been called Ben. Yesterday, he'd been sea watching and was dogless, I didn't like to ask the obvious. Pam has just told me that his dog died. David told us that was very little on the sea but two Hobby had been seen at Iron Road.

Room for one car to park at Snipe's Marsh, we swooped in. Pam went first and came back to say that my target bird was there. A Common Sandpiper. I could hardly see it, raising my binoculars to my eyes made me very unsteady on my blasted knees. Nothing to lean against either, and I needed a third hand to balance on my stick. I returned to the car, Pam saw a Greenshank and an egret.

From Iron Road, a large gathering of Canada Geese, with some Greylags, near Babcock hide, a few Swallows whizzing about, Shelduck and Oystercatcher on the far pool, and an immature Marsh Harrier.

The ice-cream van - it's our favourite vanilla as it tastes like the cold stuff of our childhood. Pam's was Rossi's in Southend and mine the Temp in Ystradgynlais, was parked at Salthouse duckpond. The first time this year for us, it has always been a favourite stop. I have a medium cone and Pam has a 99. We stopped to eat it, giving me the time to look at the young birds frequenting the pond and area.Young Mallard are slim, svelte little birds.

 

Juvenile Moorhens are..... dingy, good camouflage.

 

Cygnets are certainly not ugly ducklings, they always look serene and graceful.

This Black-headed Gull was expecting a hand-out, it didn't get one.

As I had my camera handy, I took a few shots of a distant wader flock. All but one were Curlew, the odd one a Ruff. More, 'identified from photograph when I got home',. birds.

 

Salthouse road was negotiated with care, until we could turn around and make our way home. Overnighting campavans, many cars and cavorting dogs. Ugh.

Returning from picking sweetcorn for tea yesterday, camera in hand, Pam saw a bird perched on our wall, eating an over-ripe, fallen fig. . It did not return for me.

Juvenile Lesser Whitethroat, a garden tick.