However, I had quite a pleasant walk around the reserve, especially noting that the flower and insect life had sprung up a lot more. I spent quite a long time taking photos of some of these, including attempting to get some decent damselfly shots, but i was unsuccessful as they were extremely wary, flying off when they sensed even the smallest movement.
Bird wise, there was lots about, especially little songbirds. There was a lot of noise coming from the warblers, mostly Blackcap, Whitethroat and Willow Warbler. Along the path running between the two main lagoons a Cetti's warbler's song exploded from within the undergrowth, and either side of the path were many Sedge and Reed Warblers. A chiffchaff singing loudly from some distant trees brought the warbler count to 7 out of a possible 10 species at this reserve.
I scanned the slurry lagoon for quite some time, hoping that a wader of some sort may decide to comply and drop in for me but i was unlucky, until a single Lapwing dropped in as some sort of consolation! Otherwise there was little of note on the lagoon amongst the loafing Black Headed Gulls and various ducks. Around 10 Gadwall were present however.
When doing my final scan of the lagoon, I heard something i had not heard in 2 years, a noise i have been anticipating all spring... a Cuckoo! I walked round to the bench overlooking the lower gravel pits and was instantly able to see the bird in question calling frequently from the top of a large willow tree. I watched for quite a long time before it outlasted me and i moved on. Brilliant! What's more, as i was down at the new pond dipping platform, watching shoals of roach in the crystal clear water, i heard another Cuckoo calling from within some scrub. It called for some time before falling quiet. Minutes later, i noticed a bird flying from the same direction, first thinking it was a sparrowhawk! It flew right overhead and i managed to get a good view of the bird, my best ever in fact! 2 Cuckoos in one day! Not at all bad.
No comments:
Post a Comment