A grand day out

It seems ages since I last went for a wander up the coast, something I used to do very regularly at this time of year before the pandemic.  I started at Boulmer and walked north from the village along the beach as the tide was coming in.  The weather was sunny and calm with a flat calm sea.  It is a great place to see waders and here are some of those I came across.

First bar-tailed godwits.  These have been in the news in the past week after one was tracked flying 8108 miles non-stop from Alaska to Australia in 239 hours (almost 10 days) at an average speed of 34mph.  The bird was heading for New Zealand but had to divert over 1000 miles to Australia after encountering headwinds, which makes me wonder how it knew Australia was there.  The godwits I saw are winter visitors from Siberia.

I saw and heard lots of redshanks who know just how deep they can go without getting their feathers wet.

These two spent several minutes fighting but it was difficult to see what it was all about as there was plenty of space for both of them.

Other waders were ringed plovers,

knots,

sanderlings,

dunlins (not a great photo but in for completeness),

turnstones,

and purple sandpipers.

The curlews stayed on the shore as long as possible but were eventually driven into nearby fields by the rising tide.

This is an oystercatcher with a knot and a godwit.

Ducks on the sea were eiders,

wigeons,

and mallards.

One very surprising sighting (to me at least) was little grebe fishing in the sea.  Other birds on the shore or close by included grey herons, carrion crows, rock pipits, pied wagtails, wrens, robins, linnets and house sparrows, some of which I may go back to photograph another time.  Oh, and plenty of seagulls!

A walk round the pond - Week 10

We'll see how this works out.  Last year I published a weekly post from the pond(s) each week from week 13 (late March) until week 44 (early November).  There was a lot to see and to report and it was fascinating to watch the season unfold.  I am starting a bit earlier this year and if there is enough to see I'll try to post a report each week.

The most striking thing about the pond at this time of year is how brown everything looks.  I am used to everything being green in the summer but most of the new growth has yet to emerge.  There is some colour as the alder trees are in flower.

Here are the (male) catkins and the small purple female flowers which will produce this year's cones.

Hazel trees are in full flower as well.

Here are the catkins plus the small red female flowers.

The flowers have already been fertilised as they are starting to swell to form new hazel nuts.

Although it has been a dry winter there has been a fair amount of rain in the past week and the water level is noticeably higher than last year.  The island in the larger pond is once again an island.

On my last couple of visits at the end of last year a pair of swans was in residence.  Almost the first thing I noticed on this visit was a lot of swan feathers plus a breast bone.  Obviously a swan had died or been killed.

Right across the other side of the larger pond, about 100m away, was a very large number of swan feathers.  Whether they came from the same bird or a different one is impossible to say.

When I got to the smaller pond the first thing I saw was a swan, a cygnet.

Then there were four, plus an adult.  If this was one of the pair I saw last year it must have fetched its young to join it. Of course, these may be different birds altogether.  And the good news is that there is no signs of Canada geese.

Two species I saw were new sightings (for me) at the pond.  A pair of widgeons - this is the female but the male flew off before having his photo taken.

And a pair of gadwalls - this is a very distant view of the male.

Other birds were heron, buzzard and coot.

I'll be back next week to see what has changed.  Soon there will be frog spawn and toad spawn.  The pussy willow will be in flower soon and I have to complete the first bumblebee walk before the end of the month.  Watch this space.