Only time for a short update. The last few and the next few days have been and will be a bit hectic for a variety of reasons. I have managed a bit of time out though which I'll summarise here...
A morning wander around Black Hole Marsh last Friday showed the bushes were the busiest they've been so far this autumn. The highlight was a cracking juv Lesser Whitethroat along the track to the Tower Hide, but the ten Willow Warblers were just as exciting to see...
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| Autumn Willow Warbler - hope I get to ring some soon! |
The marsh itself revealed a Greenshank, c18 Dunlin and two Cattle Egrets.
Saturday gave me less than above, although three Green Sands showed well. In the afternoon I saw my first settled Yellow Wagtail of the autumn (but my third of the season) on Seaton Marshes.
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| Green Sandpiper |
And that's about all the bird news from me, although there has been a few other bits and bobs about. The six Goosander are still around, as are at least two Cattle Egret. And this afternoon Dad had a juv Little Ringed Plover on Black Hole which was new in.
Lastly I have been showing my (annual) love for juvenile Black-tailed Godwits on Twitter over the past few days. I saw my first on Wednesday 2nd which showed really well in front of Island Hide...
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| Juvenile Icelandic Black-tailed Godwit |
This dull photo doesn't really do it justice. They are the most beautiful colour, with soft yet crisp plumage and amazing patterning on their scapulars and tertials. Despite the gloomy weather, a nearby adult meant I was able to take a nice adult vs juv comparison shot...
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| Moulting adult Icelandic Black-tailed Godwit (left), juvenile Icelandic Black-tailed Godwit (right). |
There are so many differences visible and I would happily go through them all...but that would be boring so I won't. All I will say is just look at how different they appear, the adult is a tatty worn looking bird, whereas the juvenile is so so fresh - you can just tell all those feathers are new. Such smart birds.
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