Swifts.

Tonight was how summer should be. A blue sky, cool into the evening, then the church bells chiming and Swifts screaming round. They will be on their way soon, so I tried to get a count but could only end up with a rough count of 30. I clicked away, but whereas others get some really good close ups, I've gone for "atmosphere".

Local

I've popped down to SLRS a few times recently. Not much to shout about, but I did get totals of 19 Moorhens, 6 Coots, 6 Lapwings including 2 juvs, a pair of Yellow wagtails, 2 Teal, a Common Tern, 20 BHG, and usual local stuff like Woodpeckers, Yellowhammers, etc.

I missed another Blackwit and a Green Sandpiper, but who cares when you score with a personal tick for the site and only the second site record of superb local rarity, a female Tufted Duck. Perhaps it has got tired of diving and fancies life as a dabbling duck.

Peregrines in London again

working today - should be last weekend day for a while. On the way back stopped to watch a couple of Peregrines in the usual place just north of the Guildhall, one with prey in its claws. Consequently I just missed my half-hourly train...

More Blackwits at SLRS

You would have thought that counting birds the size of a small chicken on a puddle the size of a football pitch would be one of the easier task of birdwatching. However, today it wasn't. I spotted the first Black-tailed Godwit no problem, but then Mike turned up doing his daily count and commented that there were two here. I had to go, but before I left I thought I saw an extra beak peak out from a clump, so sneaked off round the corner to get a better view, and lo there were a total of three of Iceland's finest paddling round the pond. Otherwise, in the brief period of time available, I noted more Sand Martins than previously, and a couple of Yellow Wagtails flying round the corn field.

We are entering one of my favourite times. It is as though after weeks of quiet, the world has burst and family parties of birds are pouring out. The chattering, squawking, and bickering of birds is everywhere.

More Peregrines

London Peregrines, like London Buses, appear to come in threes. I was walking home along Gresham Street when an almighty row came from cranes around the Guildhall. Three peregrines were flying round shrieking their heads off. Strangely, no-one else seemed to notice.

SLRS 6 July

Another call from Mike. I dropped D#2 at the cricket club and went down with Kevin.

In total; a Black-Tailed Godwit in summer plumage out in the middle (has any Blackwit ever had more barring or a deeper orange?). 2 Green Sandpipers, 2 adult Little Ringed Plover, a Common Sandpiper, a male Teal, a Gadwall in eclipse. A couple of Lapwings made it 5 species of wader in total.

On a more mundane note, we are beginning to see BH Gulls going through here. An adult on the scrape, and a couple drifting south.

SLRS 5 July

Dashed out first thing to SLRS. The water level has been dropping leaving nice muddy margins. Got 2 Green Sandpipers. Then as I was going round the supermarket Mike texted to say he'd seen LRP and Water Rail there too. I went back mid morning with the down-scope camera, and eventually found the LRP on the far bank - very well disguised it was too.

Dodgy photos of the two star birds.

Ki ki ki ki ki!

The walk from Liverpool Street to St Paul's is usually uneventful. This morning, however, just by the Guildhall there was a familiar "kikikikiki" and after a bit of sky watching a Peregrine appeared off the top of an adjacent block. It fluttered off in the direction of Tate Modern with something in its claws.

A passing LBB Gull took a few swipes at it. Whether the prey was a close family relative or its was just taking the opportunity of having a pop at a raptor that couldn't fight back I wasn't sure.

Tiger Tiger!

We realised that D#4, despite being primary school age, had never been to a zoo. So on a recent school inset day we rang the bank manager, arranged a loan, and went to Colchester Zoo.

It was excellent. We all thoroughly enjoyed it, apart from D#4 who kept asking when we were going home. But he never asked when we were looking at the animals, only when we were between them, so I think he enjoyed it really.

Lots of highlights, better views of many animals than I've ever had before. An excellent display of flying owls and a vulture. It's a well run place I can thoroughly recommend for a family day out. We let D#2 loose with the camera. The photos are taken through thick glass, so there's some reflection, but you get the idea.




The falconer mentioned wild Eagle Owls in the UK. He said they hunt for 8 minutes per day, and hunt by sitting and watching and waiting for prey to come close, when they drop on it. Apparently in the 1987 storm a lot of aviaries blew down, and some Eagle Owls escaped and bred; one femal in North Yorks has raised over twenty young. So in summary, there could be lots of them out there and we wouldn't know.

SLRS update

Its a while since I posted from our local Micro-Minsmere. I've had a few quick trips down but little to report. This evening there was good news, however. Three fluffy bundles were pecking there way round the muddy fringes - I think the first Lapwings to breed in the valley for a while. Otherwise there was a mass of birds - I've counted 37 Mallard here, mainly young, and family parties of Canada Goose and Coot. Today there were lots of Swallows and House Martins over the lagoon, and a couple of Pied Wagtails. Reed Buntings were calling, and overhead a couple of LBBG's drifted over and two Goldfinches flew past.

Previous visits have had Whitethroats, including a Lesser, and a variety of other common summer birds. So its seems to have been a successful breeding season for the pond and there's no shortage of birds in the surrounding countryside.

The water-level is beginning to drop. Some muddy fringes are appearing so fingers-crossed for some waders dropping in shortly.

local orchids

What with weather, work, etc. Its been a matter of sneaking out for a few quick visits. Today was typical; the boys were doing their Sunday morning cricket, so Kevin and I sneaked off to snap some local orchids, at local wildlife hot-spot the Harlow M11 roundabout. We saw the two species we were looking for, much to the consternation of motorists stopped at the adjacent traffic lights.




Just time for a coffee at the sign of the golden arches, then back to find out how the next generation of Ian Bothams are developing under the guidance of our own International Superstar.