It was such a lovely day today that I couldn't resist splurging out on the fuel and heading North to Cliffe again. Monty gets a good walk there (at least that's my rationalisation!) and there is always the chance of finding a few things new, to me at least.
The weather was calm but cold, and the puddles still had a little ice at 11:30, despite the sun. There was a fly (blackbottle?) on the flowers of the Alexanders(??) along the access road where it passes the Leopard plant hire offices. I disturbed the kestrel, Subbuteo subbuteo, from the path up the middle by the side of Conoco, and admired the beautiful drake Pochards, Aythya ferina as we went up the path, disturbing a couple of redshank, Tringa totanus which were also on the West side of Conoco.
Near the end of the path on the right there was a small flock of Goldfinches, Carduelis carduelis, feeding on the thistles by the ditch, until I carelessly frightened them up into the Hawthorn, Crataegus monogyna, and then away. I managed to get a poor shot of one in the distance. There was also one with very orange, as opposed to scarlet, facial markings. I wonder if this is a feature of younger birds?
This is the same picture, with the contrast corrected in particular, which makes it look a bit more "Christmassy"!
I got some good views of the Fieldfares, Turdus pilaris, and a Redwing, Turdus iliacus, in the hawthorn bushes towards Flamingo Pool, and then I got to my usual seat - but it was occupied! I sat on the other bench, and was joined by a very pleasant couple, which got Monty far too excited - so he disgraced me by jumping up, and also by trying to chew through his lead in his impatience.
As we had got to the seat, most of the waders were spooked, quite possibly by us, which was a real shame, and they then blew off to the centre of Flamingo, well away. I felt really guilty, I'll have to try to come on weekdays and not disturb birdwatchers over the weekend. Attempting to identify most things I got about 200 Grey Plover, Pluvialis squatarola, 200 Lapwing, Vanellus vanellus, 50 Dunlin, Calidris alpina, about 25 Redshank, Tringa totanus, 10 Shelduck, Tadorna tadorna, 10+ Curlew, Numenius arquata, and 8 or so Little Egret, Egretta garzetta. There were say 35 Great Crested Grebe, Podiceps cristatus, 60 Little Grebe, Tachybatusp ruficollis, and 200+ Coot, Fulica atra, particularly on the far pool.
While talking to the pleasant couple, who were clearly experienced birders, who had migrated from Elmley while the water level was low, I spotted a drake Goldeneye, Bucephala clangula, far down at the far end of Flamingo. Despite the distance, the white sides and white cheek spot were quite easily visible. if there were any females, I'm afraid I didn't see them!
After I had got properly cold, and Monty's behaviour had got much better, we eventually got up to go. At which point, a whole load of Grey Plover, and Dunlin returned to the near beach, together with three Godwits, and I was really pleased to 98% identify one at least of them as a Bar-Tailed Godwit, Limosa lapponica, by the absence of the black band on the tail and the absence of a white band on the wing. I was pretty sure I actually saw the barring on the tail a couple of times.
I headed off down the path towards the Radar pool, and had a good look at the Black-headed Gulls, Chroicocephalus ridibundus, Herring Gulls, Larus argentatus, Lesser Black-backed Gulls, Larus fuscus, and Greater Black-backed gulls, Larus marinus. I thought I saw four or five Common Gulls, Larus canus, as well. At about this point, the gulls got spooked and I saw a fox, Vulpes vulpes, scouting along the far bank, looking for easy prey!
After walking along the path towards the Radar lookout, I picked up the drake Goldeneye again, I was a little bit nearer now, and I tried to get a photo, but it was still a long way away. It was just possible to agree the yellow eye, the very triangular head, the white cheek spot more or less correctly placed and shaped, the greenish gloss to the head, and the slight blackish tint to the area of the primaries, with the wing slightly delineated by a black line. Overall the white sides and neck were good distinguishing features from the drake Tufted Ducks, Aythya fuligunosa, together with the larger overall size, and the very active, fast swimming, often diving, behaviour.
I was particularly pleased to find that the second photo attempt caught what appeared to be the drake vocalising in a sort of "head-straight-up" position, sort of as shown in BWP Volume 1, page 662. Whether it was stirring the water behind with its feet was a bit more difficult to detect, but there was perhaps a hint of it!
The display might have been the centre point of a "mast-head" type movement, with the call, but it wasn't followed by a dive as the next photos were taken fairly quickly afterwards and show further steady swimming continuing to the right. One photo I found on the web shows the same posture in two close together males, but is interpreted as simply drinking!
There are about 200 breeding pairs of Goldeneye in the UK, mainly in the Highlands of Scotland, but most breed near Scandinavia or Russia, and move southwards and possibly westwards in Winter, some ending up here. This one could have come from Germany, Norway, Sweden, Finland, the Baltic States or Russia itself. This drake should head back with most of the others in about March or April. There were supposed to be a couple of ducks at Cliffe as well, but I didn't see them.
They breed in tree-holes, slightly unusual for diving ducks, and the story is they can easily be encouraged by adding nest-boxes to the range of possible breeding sites, thereby raising populations, used for example quite extensively in Finland and Scotland. However although the number of breeding pairs may be raised, this doesn't necessarily increase the number of young that can be bred in a particular area, according to research. This may be due to other density-dependent factors that apply, such as food supply. They feed mainly on insects and other aquatic animals, or turn to plant material, perhaps when animal material gets scarce. Another little trick the females have is brood parasitism, laying eggs in another female's nest.
I also saw a female Marsh Harrier, Circus aeruginosus, with its wings in the characteristic shallow V-shape, drifting low over the marshes behind the Black Barn. This female seems to have been seen quite regularly here.
The weather was calm but cold, and the puddles still had a little ice at 11:30, despite the sun. There was a fly (blackbottle?) on the flowers of the Alexanders(??) along the access road where it passes the Leopard plant hire offices. I disturbed the kestrel, Subbuteo subbuteo, from the path up the middle by the side of Conoco, and admired the beautiful drake Pochards, Aythya ferina as we went up the path, disturbing a couple of redshank, Tringa totanus which were also on the West side of Conoco.
Near the end of the path on the right there was a small flock of Goldfinches, Carduelis carduelis, feeding on the thistles by the ditch, until I carelessly frightened them up into the Hawthorn, Crataegus monogyna, and then away. I managed to get a poor shot of one in the distance. There was also one with very orange, as opposed to scarlet, facial markings. I wonder if this is a feature of younger birds?
As we had got to the seat, most of the waders were spooked, quite possibly by us, which was a real shame, and they then blew off to the centre of Flamingo, well away. I felt really guilty, I'll have to try to come on weekdays and not disturb birdwatchers over the weekend. Attempting to identify most things I got about 200 Grey Plover, Pluvialis squatarola, 200 Lapwing, Vanellus vanellus, 50 Dunlin, Calidris alpina, about 25 Redshank, Tringa totanus, 10 Shelduck, Tadorna tadorna, 10+ Curlew, Numenius arquata, and 8 or so Little Egret, Egretta garzetta. There were say 35 Great Crested Grebe, Podiceps cristatus, 60 Little Grebe, Tachybatusp ruficollis, and 200+ Coot, Fulica atra, particularly on the far pool.
While talking to the pleasant couple, who were clearly experienced birders, who had migrated from Elmley while the water level was low, I spotted a drake Goldeneye, Bucephala clangula, far down at the far end of Flamingo. Despite the distance, the white sides and white cheek spot were quite easily visible. if there were any females, I'm afraid I didn't see them!
After I had got properly cold, and Monty's behaviour had got much better, we eventually got up to go. At which point, a whole load of Grey Plover, and Dunlin returned to the near beach, together with three Godwits, and I was really pleased to 98% identify one at least of them as a Bar-Tailed Godwit, Limosa lapponica, by the absence of the black band on the tail and the absence of a white band on the wing. I was pretty sure I actually saw the barring on the tail a couple of times.
I headed off down the path towards the Radar pool, and had a good look at the Black-headed Gulls, Chroicocephalus ridibundus, Herring Gulls, Larus argentatus, Lesser Black-backed Gulls, Larus fuscus, and Greater Black-backed gulls, Larus marinus. I thought I saw four or five Common Gulls, Larus canus, as well. At about this point, the gulls got spooked and I saw a fox, Vulpes vulpes, scouting along the far bank, looking for easy prey!
After walking along the path towards the Radar lookout, I picked up the drake Goldeneye again, I was a little bit nearer now, and I tried to get a photo, but it was still a long way away. It was just possible to agree the yellow eye, the very triangular head, the white cheek spot more or less correctly placed and shaped, the greenish gloss to the head, and the slight blackish tint to the area of the primaries, with the wing slightly delineated by a black line. Overall the white sides and neck were good distinguishing features from the drake Tufted Ducks, Aythya fuligunosa, together with the larger overall size, and the very active, fast swimming, often diving, behaviour.
There are about 200 breeding pairs of Goldeneye in the UK, mainly in the Highlands of Scotland, but most breed near Scandinavia or Russia, and move southwards and possibly westwards in Winter, some ending up here. This one could have come from Germany, Norway, Sweden, Finland, the Baltic States or Russia itself. This drake should head back with most of the others in about March or April. There were supposed to be a couple of ducks at Cliffe as well, but I didn't see them.
They breed in tree-holes, slightly unusual for diving ducks, and the story is they can easily be encouraged by adding nest-boxes to the range of possible breeding sites, thereby raising populations, used for example quite extensively in Finland and Scotland. However although the number of breeding pairs may be raised, this doesn't necessarily increase the number of young that can be bred in a particular area, according to research. This may be due to other density-dependent factors that apply, such as food supply. They feed mainly on insects and other aquatic animals, or turn to plant material, perhaps when animal material gets scarce. Another little trick the females have is brood parasitism, laying eggs in another female's nest.
I also saw a female Marsh Harrier, Circus aeruginosus, with its wings in the characteristic shallow V-shape, drifting low over the marshes behind the Black Barn. This female seems to have been seen quite regularly here.
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