Hi Everyone,
It turned into a pleasant morning on Sunday at Swithland Reservoir. The weather was a bit grey, but when the sun came out it was lovely apart from the midges all along the dam. Fortunately, they weren’t biting. Although, we didn’t see a great deal, it was good to get out. The grey wagtails were impressive in colour and numbers. A few sand martins were seen, but too distant for a good view. They were trying to mob two of the buzzards, which throughout the morning were circling overhead. The patterns on their undersides could at times be clearly seen without binoculars. Tufted ducks were in greater numbers than anything else, which was not what we had seen at Rutland Water the previous month although as we left the dam end many black-headed gulls had begun to gather. Other notable sights, sadly, were the bodies and feathers of a few gulls plus one sick bird which we put down to avian flu. Your thoughts go to the other birds particularly the buzzards, corvids and animals which might be tempted to scavenge. We need to see an end to this terrible disease. Also, in a field up the lane towards the railway, there was the partially decomposed remains of a young badger - a victim of avian flu and later scavengers or an attack from something larger. All sobering sights! We went round to the other end of the Reservoir on the Ridings. However, there little new to add to the mornings tally. Bird list: Canada geese 4, Greylag geese 2, Mute swans, Gadwalls 3, Mallards a few, Tufted ducks 40-50, Pheasant, Feral pigeons a few, Wood pigeons , Coots, Great Crested Grebes 4, Black-headed gulls 50+, Grey heron, Little egret, Buzzards 4, Peregrine, Jackdaws, Carrion crows, Blue tits many, Great tits a few, Chiff Chaff, Blackbird, Robin, House Sparrows, Dunnock, Grey Wagtail 4, Pied Wagtails, Chaffinches, Goldfinches Sand Martins 4 seen by Madeleine, Goldcrests pair seen by Angie, Great Spotted Woodpecker drumming, Green Woodpecker calling