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21C Wednesday 15th August 2017 ~ Staying local today I began with a tour of the marina grounds before heading off across the canal to Napton Reservoir. Six
Swallows resting up on the wires enjoying the morning sunshine and a distant 'cronk' of
Raven. There is still a small amount of
Reed Warbler inhabiting the reed beds and along the banks the hawthorn, elder berries and blackberries are ripening up, producing plenty of feeding activity. Mostly young
Chiffchaff but
Willow Warbler,
Reed Bunting,
Whitethroat &
Blackcaps can also be found. Those that still have feeders on the go are enticing the usual hoards of
Goldfinch &
House Sparrows.
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| Chiffchaff |
Yesterday evening I counted around thirty or so
Pied Wagtails around the pontoons, no sign of any
Yellow Wagtails thus far, which generally join up around this time of year.
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| Record image of Common Redstart |
Napton Reservoir, which is currently near capacity held the usual
Coot-fest (50+ today), four
Tufted Duck and the small population of
Great Crested Grebe. A
Kingfisher flyby was nice to see, less common here than a few years back and the best of the rest included:
Whitethroat,
Sparrowhawk,
Raven over and juvenile
Common Redstart, which was preening along the fences in the sheep field.
Migrant,
Brown and
Southern Hawker dragonflies were all on the wing, along with
Common &
Ruddy Darter.
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| One of two Spotted Flycatchers directly over the car! |
Napton Hill was reasonably quiet with two
Spotted Flycatchers in the gully. A distant
Wheatear on the Highland Cattle paddocks was a bonus, thanks to Richard Mays for the phone call and amazingly another two
Spotted Flycatchers were literally over the top of my car when I returned, which I'd strategically parked under a tree!
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| Spotted Flycatcher |
