What A Wash Out!

Monday 4th to Sunday 10th June

It's been a very quiet week with very little to report. The regular pre-moult build up of feral geese has reached it's peak with the arrival of several hundred Canada Geese but apart from the usual Greylag hybrids the only other dodgy goose amongst them was a Bar-headed and for one day only. On the subject of feral wildfowl... in case you haven't checked out my blog since my last weekly roundup, check out Thursday's post on the Black Swan fiasco. The dozen Gadwall were still in the flooded meadow but the brood were not seen again and although we have over-summering Tufted Duck and Pochard no young have yet been seen. 

Sandwich Tern from Helen Hide.
Around twenty were still lingering this week but no Roseates or even a Black so far this year!

At least one of the Marsh Harrier pair is still lingering, the male, but there have been no positive sightings of the female this week and no other raptor sightings of note. It was of course the torrential rain and unseasonal high tides back in April that was responsible for, we believe, the destruction of any nest the harriers had but even more unseasonal high tides this week also put paid to one of our Oystercatchers' nests on The Swannery nest site (and five late swans nests too). The Oystercatcher pair on the tern island though were high if not quite dry so are still ok we hope. As are, for the moment at least, the Common Terns but it was in similar atrocious June weather last year that they deserted so fingers crossed. Up to twenty individuals have been seen again this week but only about five pairs seem to be nesting. Visibility though on the island is not great, despite attempts to clear the Sea-beet it has come back with a vengeance, so it is hard to make out the sitting birds. The only passage waders this week were a flock of forty Dunlins heading east.

Singing male Reed Bunting on the perimeter fence. Not quite a Bee-eater but nice all the same!

Unfortunately there has been no further sign of the Spotted Flycatchers or Lesser Whitethroats that were holding terrritory last week but the Rock Pipit was still on its usual 'winter' territory on Bum Point so that speaks volumes!

Following the female Beautiful Demoiselle from a few posts ago this is a female Banded along the meadow stream.
I just can't seem to sneak up on the males!