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| Roosting Pied Wagtail |
I did manager a trip to Brandon Marsh in the early hours of Saturday morning hoping for something of interest in the early stages of migration, but have to say that I was very disappointed. The only bird species of note were Lesser Whitethroat, Green Sandpiper, but only two on this visit, one on Teal Pool and one on Carlton, plus four Swift heading south. No sign either of the recent Marsh Harrier, a picture of which can be viewed here, looks like a male in moult to me. I did have a moment of excitement in the Teal Hide when Jim Rushforth and I were almost certain we had a distant Spotted Flycatcher, but unfortunately by the time we sorted our scopes out it had gone.
The Butterfly count yielded better results when a walk around the Farm Pool area produced Brown Argus, Small Heath, Small Copper and Common Blue, although with the weather dull but warm these took some finding.
Yesterday evening at my mooring there appeared to be more Pied Wagtail (pictured) in the usual roost than of late, I estimated around 100. These birds have been regular here over the summer months roosting in the surrounding Fragmites (Common Reed). Swallow and House Martin were plentiful too, both last night and today with good numbers now coming through, a good few were perched on the nearby phone lines yesterday afternoon for a well earned rest.
