25-03-2016, 04:33 PM
1
Spring visit.
With the weather less cold than we are enduring i had a visit too the lake too check out the birds.Very sad to see how all species numbers were down, with the swans almost reduced by two thirds. Why i cant be sure but its worrying.
Good to see two pairs of Great-crested grebes on the lakes. both going through early courtship rituals, 9 photographers hoping for special images but the pairs played hard to get by staying distant.
Gulls and pigeons erupted from the sports center roof a predator was about and sure enough a male Sparrowhawk tried his luck and missed.
Several pairs of Coot are already nesting, and Tufted,, Pochard, and Mallard made up the bulk of the wildfowl
Only waders were a pair of Oystercatcher we believe they may be nesting on the nearby racecourse.
A change in the wind meant gathering clouds and a drop in temperature, so it was off back home, a canny couple of hours watching and chinwagging, time well spent.
25-03-2016, 07:52 PM
7
Re: Spring visit.
Lovely photos. I too love the birds and used to regularly go around bird reserves.There seems to have been a marked set of changes in bird populations in recent years which I guess in a chain of events caused by changes to their resources.
Pied wagtails for example would only be seen in the countryside many years ago, but these past 5+ years they are seen throughout cities and esp in fast food outlet car parks.
Buzzards appear to have flourished massively and any time I travel north to south I see them constantly during the journey. I would guess there are plenty of harriers too.
On the other hand the once very common sparrow (in various varieties) is now much less common. Geese seem to be plentiful but swans less so.
I guess such changes happen all the time.
25-03-2016, 08:43 PM
10
Re: Spring visit.
There are actually sparrows visiting my bird tables this year, haven't seen any in my garden for years. Lots in the hedges down the lane, but, they seem to be very few around apart from that. The only time I see starlings is over by Glastonbury. They used to be the most frequent garden visitors.Lots of robins and wrens about now though.
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