Spot the Med...
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| To zoom, click on image, them right click and select view image, then press CTRL + to zoom in and CTRL - to zzom out. |
Go on, click on the image and try to find it. Leave a
comment describing its position and you will be the winner! Don’t be shy!
Now some counts from the estuary:
Curlews have been increasing every day over the last couple
of weeks and are now up to c73. I met Will at Passage yesterday evening and
managed to get this count as they left their roost as the tide dropped.
Redshank numbers have doubled to two! and Little Egrets are
now up to 38+.
The first Med Gulls of the summer have appeared over the
last couple of days with this adult over on Saturday and this first summer at
Passage yesterday.
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| Med with juv BHG |
We also had a probable fly over but the light was fading and
by the time we got on to it, it was flying away from us, but it did have pale
underwings and when it turned its head I could see a chunky beak.
The quiz picture shows a group of c220 Black-headed Gulls (including
7 juvs) roosting on the racecourse yesterday. They were all panting away in the extreme heat,
I don’t know why they weren’t sitting on the cool water of the estuary.
So all together, there were three different Meds on site
yesterday and almost a fourth which turned out to be a sleeping Shelduck! (nice
one Will ;)) It did look remarkably like a Med though.
Thinking of Shelducks, there now seems to be another brood
of five. So now there are four broods of 2, 4, 5, and 7. The brood of seven are
now pretty much adult sized.
Now on to small waders. There have been four Common Sandpipers around Passage for a week now with all of them feeding on the spit with c12 Pied Wags including a few juvs yesterday evening. On Saturday evening Will saw two LRPs at Passage. The first returning passage.
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| By Will Salmon |
I’ve seen this Little Grebe over the last couple of weeks.
No juvs yet though.
On a non-birding note, on my walk down yesterday, I saw this…!
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| And no, this picture has not been digitally enhanced! |
At first I thought it was an algal bloom, but the colour
only occupied about 40 metres of the river and on my walk back, it had shifted
down to where the new bridge is. Perhaps someone tipped a massive bucket of
neon green paint in the river?! I hope it doesn’t affect the estuarine
ecosystem too much!
Anyway, that was a long post! Hopefully you’ve all managed it
to the end, and don’t forget the quiz!
I love a quiz!! I see an adult along the front in line with the 'O' of 'Owners' written on a sign in the back ground.
ReplyDeleteThanks for taking part Steve. Yes that's the one. But you're not the winner just yet! Lee texted me 5 mins before you commented, but he'd found a different bird! We're just trying to work out if he's right, and if he is, then I'm afraid he'll be the winner! :-(
DeleteYou're the winner Steve! Well done! Lee's bird is the one in the upright posture in line with the gap in-between the doors and the signs on the left hand side of the beige hut.
DeleteYeah woooooo! What's the prize?
DeleteI did wonder whether there was a second, a younger bird (pos 1s) head on along the back edge just to the right of the bird Lee picked out. From Lee's bird go past the fence post, there's a few gulls (Herring and BG) then a gap along the back edge - its the first one after the gap (ignoring the nearer birds). Its about half way betweena sign and a small pipe on the wall. Can barely see anything on it but it 'feels' right.
Perhaps if I ever come to the Axe, I’ll buy you a chocolate bar!
DeleteOn my previous comment, I didn’t really make it clear that Lee’s bird isn’t actually a Med.
I think I can see the one you mean. I didn’t see any others while checking the flock through my scope. I’ll put a slightly closer image on my next post.