Friday 28 April 2017

Beddington Farm - Reed All About It!


The weather over the last few days has been mixed but one thing that has been fairly consistent is the drop in temperature which may have affected the movement of birds from the continent. Dave Harris found a new Walton bird in a Red-rumped Swallow which had me covering the lakes last night in case the bird moved in the Farms direction. The bird was however still present at Island Barn this morning.

This morning I was up at fruit loopy o clock to assist Devilbirder bird banding on 100 Acre. The Owls were still vocal despite a tiny bit of mizzle but it seemed warmer than the previous days. Would this be a good day in the nets or another weather blocker!
It turned out to be our best day so far in the nets with numerous Reed Warbler that were new arrivals. One bird was a control which is likely to be a returning bird from a previous year. New Blackbird were  moving through this area in relative numbers. Fat and muscle ratings are taken  from each bird giving an indication of the health of the new arrivals before they are released.
100 Acre had a Greenshank that kept disappearing only to re appear on a bed behind our temporary base. A bird was seen on Jim’s pit which only appeared to have one leg and was using it very well to hop about the bed eventually hopping into flight and back in the direction of where we had left a two legged bird. Was it just resting a leg or were there two birds? Common, Green Sandpiper, Little Ringed Plover and a few Lapwing completed the wader contingent in this area. Red Kite was also noted. This species has been almost a daily occurrence lately with three birds on some days.
It was good to see a mix of waders on the sludge beds hopefully it will pull a few more into the area over the next few days!

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