More Passage Waders

I was just returning from a shopping trip to Beaconsfield when news came through of two Avocets and a Green Sandpiper at Little Marlow GP.  So a quick bite to eat and off I set.  It was a good hour before I arrived but fortunately the birds were still present.  It is clearly a good time for passage waders with the Greenshank the previous day and other waders reported elsewhere.

Quite a few other birds were present including 3 adult Little Ringed Plovers, a pair of Oystercatchers, several Teal, a few Pochard, good numbers of Lapwing and several hundred Gulls.

As usual all of the birds were fairly distant and the quality of the photos reflects this.

Avocets - The pair feeding on the sand spit, unfortunately one end on.  Also Black-headed Gulls.

A crowded area.  Also with a Lapwing, Coot, Mallard, Common Tern and Teal

The Green Sandpiper was keeping to a quieter bit of the sand spit.

A short video clip of the Avocets follows

Colour Ringed Greenshank

I had already walked around the lake in the morning and not seen anything of note when a message came about lunchtime in from Simon Ramm to say there was a wader at Little Marlow.  Initially ID was a bit uncertain (as it was asleep) but then it was considered to be a Greenshank, not a scarce bird at the site but.  I arrived just before Simon left and saw the bird asleep and then starting to feed.  It was rather distant so the photos were not great.

A short video follows

Note the colour rings on the bird.  On the right leg there was a long pale green ring above the knee (Tibia).  On the left leg there was a bright blue ring above the knee and a bright Orange (or possibly red) below the knee (Tarsus).

We are currently trying to establish where this bird was ringed.  It seems likely it was ringed at Farlington in Hampshire.

Garden Hedgehog

Our local Hedgehog arriving at 10:10pm for the fifth night in a row for a quick snack of dog food.  Previously seen munching through Slugs which are not good for Hedgehogs as they may get Lungworm which can be fatal and is apparently one of the biggest killers of the species.

Breeding Birds at LMGP

An hour or two around the south part of the lake was pleasant in the late evening sun.    The Swans have done well, as have the Grey Herons and Cormorants.  There only appears to be one Little Egret nest this year, containing at least one well grown young.  The nest is extremely well hidden and easily missed.  Sadly the Common Terns have failed totally so far, but several pairs seem to be trying again.  We don't know what predated the first broods, so this attempt is likely to end in the same way.

The Mute Swan cygnets are growing fast.

Great Crested Grebe - Three nest appear to have been built in the past five days including this one which already has eggs.  When I returned an hour later one bird was sitting and the other was piling on materials around the nest!  They seem to have started breeding rather late this year.

College Lake U3A Visit

Today I visited College Lake and then onto Pitstone Hill with ten members of the Bourne End U3A group.  We had a great start with amazing views of a Red-legged Partridge with a family of ten or so chicks, in the car park.  Later on, what was probably the same group had moved into the nearby reserve area.

Feeding time in the car park, the well camouflaged chicks all investigating their surroundings.

Red-legged Partridge - The brood safely moved to the reserve area and away from the busy car park.

Then a visit to Graham's hide and the two main hides on either side of the marsh.  This produced several Redshank, a single Oystercatcher, 3 Little Ringed Plovers and about 20 Lapwings.  The Black-headed Gull colony was very active with several well grown juveniles present.  Most Passerines were heard and not seen but we did see Reed Bunting and Reed Warbler.

Redshank, Lapwing and Oystercatcher 

Redshank - Presumed different individuals from the one above.

Most of the group then moved to Pitstone Hill where we had telescope views of Yellowhammer, Linnet and the best bird of the day, Corn Bunting, with two seen.  

Little Owl

This is the forth sighting of a Little Owl here in the past month or so.  Rather distant but this time I managed a few photos.  Prior to this only seen here on one other occasion in the past 10 years.

Little Owl in it's favoured perch, a horse shelter.

You can just about make out the eyes in this photo

Little Marlow Breeding Birds

Fledgling Grey Herons ready to leave the nests.  A few stretching exercises called for.

Over 20 nests were used this year.  The nests were occupied from January!

A Common Tern chick keeping a low profile.

A short video clip of the Terns.

A Reed Warbler still building a nest.  A bit late.   Barely visible through the reeds.

Wildlife at Stoke Common

This was a late evening walk to try and see what heathland birds were around.  It was a pleasant sunny evening with only a light breeze.  I arrived about 7:30 and wandered slowly around the site.

A male Stonechat keeping a careful watch on his family.

Two of at least four fledgling Stonechats present.  Good to see that they have bred successfully again.

It is never easy to photograph the very cautious Jay.  This one was investigating something under the tree.

Broad-bodied Chaser - The first I have seen at this site.

Roe Deer -  One of two stags seen.  Probably a territorial dispute with one chasing the other.

Muntjac  -  One appeared in front of me as I was stood still.  Nice face markings. 

There were not a lot of other birds around but I did see or hear Willow Warbler, Whitethroat and the usual Red Kites and Crows.  No Nightjar unfortunately.

Shelduck with Ducklings

A rare sight in Bucks indeed with only a handful of breeding records.  This family group were discovered a week or so ago on the flooded part of the common.  It is not known if the birds were actually raised in Berks or Bucks, as the border is only 100 yards away!

The ducklings have survived over the past ten days, so there is no reason they can't make it to full grown juveniles.