Hello
Last Wednesday was the Bird Club's summer outdoor meeting and Sarah Gibbs organised it for us to take a ride in a trailer down to the Walgrave Bay at Pitsford Reservoir. Eighteen of us duly attended and after meeting David the local gamekeeper, we were driven down to the bay which is a section of the reserve that receives relatively little perusal these days. In fact speaking with some members it seemed that many years had passed since they had taken footsteps into the biggest bay on the reserve!
The evening was dry, sunny and remarkably warm as we embarked on our little adventure. We meandered along the mowed path and first stop was the Walgrave Hide where Pete Gilbert and Helen Franklin had hot drinks and biscuits organised for us! This was particularly welcome for those that had just come from work or a day out and hadn't time to refresh before the meeting.
Plenty of common birds were about including calling and singing Garden Warblers, a pair of Great Crested Grebes right outside the hide and quite a raft of ducks which included two drake Red-crested Pochard, a Wigeon and good numbers of Gadwall and Pochard. Common Buzzard and Sparrowhawk put in appearances and a Black-tailed Skimmer dragonfly showed nicely. Lots of insects about included the localised elongated Black Snail Beetle silpha tristis.
Further down and the Flowering Rush was exhibiting its pretty pink flowers and at least one Blue Emperor was on the wing; a quick-moving hawker dragonfly might have been a Southern but it and a couple of others remained unidentified. A Grasshopper Warbler sang from dense vegetation and showed itself briefly a couple of times as it flew towards us. A few Muntjac Deer sauntered just ahead of us. By the time we reached the small ponds the light and warmth was beginning to dwindle and we took a walk back the way we had come, but not before some of us took a rest stop at the Gerald Mead bench, in memory of a popular and talented birder from a couple of decades ago who loved birding this section of the reservoir.
On our walk back we counted at least nine Little Egrets roosting near to The Point. Shortly after this we boarded our return trailer and were driven regally back to our waiting vehicles. A very enjoyable little excursion made possible with the assistance of David from the Wilsons estate and organisation from Sarah.
Regards
Neil M
Last Wednesday was the Bird Club's summer outdoor meeting and Sarah Gibbs organised it for us to take a ride in a trailer down to the Walgrave Bay at Pitsford Reservoir. Eighteen of us duly attended and after meeting David the local gamekeeper, we were driven down to the bay which is a section of the reserve that receives relatively little perusal these days. In fact speaking with some members it seemed that many years had passed since they had taken footsteps into the biggest bay on the reserve!
The evening was dry, sunny and remarkably warm as we embarked on our little adventure. We meandered along the mowed path and first stop was the Walgrave Hide where Pete Gilbert and Helen Franklin had hot drinks and biscuits organised for us! This was particularly welcome for those that had just come from work or a day out and hadn't time to refresh before the meeting.
Plenty of common birds were about including calling and singing Garden Warblers, a pair of Great Crested Grebes right outside the hide and quite a raft of ducks which included two drake Red-crested Pochard, a Wigeon and good numbers of Gadwall and Pochard. Common Buzzard and Sparrowhawk put in appearances and a Black-tailed Skimmer dragonfly showed nicely. Lots of insects about included the localised elongated Black Snail Beetle silpha tristis.
Further down and the Flowering Rush was exhibiting its pretty pink flowers and at least one Blue Emperor was on the wing; a quick-moving hawker dragonfly might have been a Southern but it and a couple of others remained unidentified. A Grasshopper Warbler sang from dense vegetation and showed itself briefly a couple of times as it flew towards us. A few Muntjac Deer sauntered just ahead of us. By the time we reached the small ponds the light and warmth was beginning to dwindle and we took a walk back the way we had come, but not before some of us took a rest stop at the Gerald Mead bench, in memory of a popular and talented birder from a couple of decades ago who loved birding this section of the reservoir.
On our walk back we counted at least nine Little Egrets roosting near to The Point. Shortly after this we boarded our return trailer and were driven regally back to our waiting vehicles. A very enjoyable little excursion made possible with the assistance of David from the Wilsons estate and organisation from Sarah.
Regards
Neil M
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| Black-tailed Skimmer. |
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| Martin: "You know what I reckon there could be a Red-breasted Fly around here somewhere?" Laughter from Bob and Alan... |
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| Colin: "What's this talk about a Red-breasted Fly?" Alan: "Well I can feel it in my water, I'm sure!" Colin: "Nah you've been drinking too much of the Bird Club coffee again!" |
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