Monday 9 May 2016

Ternless

There was no sign of Friday night's Garganey on Saturday morning, and the best patch bird was a Spotted Flycatcher along Northcroft Lane. Aside from this, there were two Dunlin present on Mons Pool in the morning, increasing to 3 in the afternoon, when they were joined by a Ringed Plover. The same day, my WeBS count at Girton was uneventful (no scarce terns).

Sunday, and I failed to find a Black Tern on the patch; unfortunately I was busy in the afternoon/evening when big numbers built up at Lound and Holme Pierrepont, which was a bit frustrating. Cuckoo and Hobby were both in evidence though, and I counted a total of 54 active Cormorant nests on Mons Pool island. 

Today saw me on a site inspection in Netherfield in the morning, allowing a quick visit to Netherfield Lagoons. The Great Reed Warbler found there this morning struck up its mechanical song a couple of times whilst I was present, but refused to show - indeed, it sounded like it hadn't shown for anyone at that point. 

Rather than going back to Netherfield after work, another patch visit was in order. There were 4 Greenshanks on the pools on the west side of Ferry Lane Lake - hopefully a Wood Sand or Temminck's Stint will take a fancy to this area at some point soon! I also located a Kingfisher nest, and topped things of with the first returning Turtle Dove of the year - always a relief when they're back.

Away from the birds, I had a look for Grizzled Skippers on Saturday afternoon, in seemingly ideal conditions; I guess it was still slightly early in the season, as I could find none on the disused railway south of Cotham, but did locate one at Staunton Quarry. Others were seen on the verges by the Sustrans route at Cotham Landfill and at Flawborough Footpath. 


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