Points of interest

I have been avoiding some areas of the Moors recently due to the length of the grass and the height of the nettles. This, combined with an abundance of ticks has not made walking the area easy. I have been lucky, no ticks on me. Poor Taz has not been so lucky. I enjoy taking her birding with me, so alternative areas have been visited.

On a plus side, some of the meadows have now been cut and are being harvested for silage. It will soon be walkable again.

Tuesday Evening - A visit to the Water Park produced a surprise in the form of a Bar Headed Goose. This bird visited the a Water Park last year too. In fact, almost a year to the day.

Wednesday Evening - again found me having a late walk around the Water Park. I hadn't intended going out this evening, but after a late dinner decided to go for a walk. I'm glad I did. I saw my first Cuckoo of the year, and the view was one of the best I've had. I heard its unmistakable call and started scanning the trees. I eventually located it. It then took flight and flew towards me. These are the best in flight views of a Cuckoo I have ever had. I was very pleased.

I also found three Little Egret settling down to roost for the evening..

The Cormorants had other ideas. As more and more Cormarnts came in to roost, the Egrets received more and more aggrevation from them. Eventually, they succambe to the pressure and vacated the roost.

Another enjoyable after work wander and a year tick Cuckoo thrown in for good measure. These evening walkabouts are proving to be worth the effort.

I just like this picture.

 

Another impromptu late evening wander. Spent a couple of hours with WJE in the hides. We watched a nice conditioned but thin looking fox, walk around the margin of the pool. It eventually waded out into the shallow water and concealed itself within the dense undergrowth of one of the islands.

The forecast rain, which I doubted would arrive, arrived right on cue. We headed back for the cars in a steady drizzle but managed to miss the worst of it.

Had a few evening errands to run, then managed a bit of birding. Had great views of a Barn Owl hunting over the meadow. I watched it for over 40 mins. It would appear, catch a small mammal from the grass, then disappear with its catch. I saw three successful captures, and eventually managed to keep eyes on where it was taking its captures. I found another Barn Owl nest! Considering how badly this species has been hit nationwide by our recent bad winters and flooding, this year seems to hold some hope for our local population beginning to make a comeback.

 

 

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