JACK SNIPE VIDEO

Went to Marsh Lane early this morning and my godfathers it was cold there at 8.00 AM.My heavy duty thermals were penetrated after only a few minutes.

Went straight to the RW hide to check on the progress of the earthworks on the islands.I was impressed the excavator could not have been on site long but it had made a hell of a lot of progress reducing the height of the levels on the first island.

It was poor on the birding front.Well it was till I saw this Jack Snipe along one of the channels in front of the N Causeway hide.So impressed with the videos this new camera can produce.

Click enlarge button in bottom RH corner

MARSH LANE SHOTS

Would not have gone over to Marsh Lane on Friday morning but I had been asked to get some shots of the RW pool islands before the excavators move in on Monday.It was bright when I got there but a chilly wind was blowing.I soon had the place to myself. 

Here is just one of the shots of the RW pool taken that morning.

Thought I'd post a few shots of the area of the RW pool in front of the River hide that has been so good lately with the lower water levels.There has been a Kingfisher, 8 Little Egrets, 5 Green Sandpipers, 2 Water Rails and the Great White Egret as well as the usual suspects on show there all pretty close.

There were 8 Little Egrets there again that morning my record for the site and 5 Green Sandpipers.

Just as I was about to leave this character turned up from rail bridge area on the other side of the river.The Egrets and the Sandpipers and everything else flew off from the RW pool.A few minutes later as our friend wandered along the river and came into view from the CP pool the many hundreds of birds there took off and left the reserve.I bet there were only a handful of birds left on the site.What a tosser ! ! !

ANOTHER WADER VIDEO.

Had another go with a video with the new camera the other day.A Green Sandpiper was pretty close to the Oak hide.

The noise in the background is the pump near the River hide.Click button in RH bottom corner to enlarge.

LOCAL PATCH AGAIN.

Went over to Marsh Lane again yesterday morning getting there early at 8.00 AM.It was fairly gloomy and a cold breeze was blowing.

Went straight down to the River hide which had been so great the day before.Alas it was not so good.A netting team after fish in the now very low water levels had scared off a lot of birds including all the Egrets big and small.

The KF showed again in a tree to the left of the hide but it's very gloomy in the tree and the leaves don't help so no keepers.Nice to see though specially as it brought a fish back on one visit.

A Water Rail showed to the left of the hide.

There were at least 4 Green Sandpipers showing.Managed to get 3 in one shot the fourth kept wandering off.

I then headed down to the RW hide as I'd been told that some Redwings had been seen down there.Had to wait a while but got some shots when a couple of them showed briefly.Managed some decent shots considering the distance (the new lens continues to impress).Although the KF and the Redwings were roughly the same distance away the light for the latter was in the right position which shows how important that is.

RIVER HIDE ON TOP FORM AT THE LOCAL PATCH.

Went down to Marsh Lane this morning getting there at 9.00 AM.It was sunny but very cold.

Headed down to Oak hide first and soon spotted Big Whitey a fair way off but he'd caught a fish.I managed a shot before he had a bit of a dust up with a Heron.

I soon headed over to the river hide which was an excellent move.With the now very low water levels on the RW pool made the view very spectacular with all the muddy areas close to the hide attracting many birds.

Of all the reserves I've been to over the years the river hide this morning could well have given the best view I've ever had.Pity it cannot be kept like this I'm sure it would attract many waders.

At one time this morning I could see 3 Green Sandpipers, a Kingfisher, a Water Rail, 8 Little Egrets (my record for this site) and the Great White Egret among scores of the usual suspects.

Here a few shots.Not all plain sailing though the light was very bright from the left so it was tricky to get decent shots so no keepers.Also whilst I was alone in the river hide others got good views of a Stonechat in the marsh from Oak hide.Can't win them all.  

I might have stumbled on a brand new species on the RW pool.A Black-bellied Mute Swan.

A FOGGY MORNING AT THE LOCAL PATCH.

Went to Marsh Lane early on Friday morning and found it quite foggy and very cold.

From the Oak hide I spotted our leader in the gloom attending to the pump that is draining the RW pool. Look how cold his hands have got.

Also from the Oak hide Big Whitey and a friend could just be seen in the fog.

At the end of the marsh 2 of the 4 Green Sandpipers at the reserve showed briefly.

It got a bit brighter later and Big Whitey showed much better.

A bit later on he was joined by 2 of the 6 + Little Egrets on site that morning.

OFF TO THE LOCAL PATCH.

Went to Marsh Lane again this morning getting there at 9.00 AM.It was fairly bright but a bit chilly.

Resisting taking any more shots of Big Whitey who was on the gravel spit I did have a chance of getting some shots of a Kestrel from the Oak hide but it was into the sun and distant.

Just as it threatened to come close  a couple of BH Gulls decided to attack so no decent shots

There were at least 3 Green Sandpipers on the RW pool but always distant.Patience paid off when one came very close to the Oak hide.

The big pump brought in several days ago to lower the RW pool water was actually working today and the water level was way down.Pity it can't be kept at this level as there were lots of mud exposed ideal for waders.This is a shot of the pump taken from the river hide.

Whilst in the river hide I saw that there was another Green Sandpiper on show.I thought for a while it had only one leg but the amazing thing was it was only a few feet away from the pump which was very noisy.

The GBB Gull was on the CP pool again.You can see how much bigger it is than the nearby LBB Gull.

NEWS FROM THE BACK GARDEN FEEDERS

Had to take drastic action to get more birds on the feeders so I moved one of the feeding stations near a tree and left the bird house feeder where it was but with less feeders on it.Pleased to say that things are much better with a lot more birds visiting.

GWE video

A rather distant video of yesterday's GWE at Marsh Lane.It's overexposed the unexpected sunshine caught me out.Press the full screen button in bottom RH corner.

BIG WHITEY IS BACK.

Fed up with staying in I took a chance this morning and went down to Marsh Lane although it was dank and gloomy.Got there at 9.00 AM and straightaway was very pleased because all the way from the CP I spotted Big Whitey in flight on the RW pool.The Great White Egret was back.

Didn't stay long in the CP hide and went down to Oak hide to try and spot Big Whitey.He was pretty close well to the right of the hide.Better still the weather got quite bright.

\\\\here are some shots of him having a bit of a body shake.

Some shots of him landing after a fly around. 

I missed shots of the Water Rail it was too quick for me but managed some distant shots of a GBB Gull in the gloom on the CP just before I left.