Having had such a good birding day the previous day, the Sunday was always likely to be a bit of an anti-climax. Easterlies suggested that sea-watching might be profitable but the combination of not being able to drag myself out of bed and limited public transport meant that I didn't make it anywhere near the coast. I did however still manage to take myself birding, even if it was only to Swannie Ponds for less than 3 hours.
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| Mallard |
Birds were in very short supply when I eventually ventured out at about 1315. A displaying Feral Pigeon and the target of his affections starting what would prove to be a rather short list. oth Herring Gull and Lesser Black Backed Gull were added on Clepington Road, with House Martins and Swallows both passing over as I walked in the direction of the ponds.
Even at the ponds, there didn't appear to be too many birds. I got distracted immediately by the now almost fully grown Coot chicks, all three looking like making it to adulthood. They were now feeding independently of the parents, who lazed around near the island, while the youngsters even swam round to the other side at one point, and all without any adult supervision. In addition to the Coots, there were a few Mallards, mostly hauled out on the island. The Mute Swan pair were further round, near the top end of the ponds.
In addition to Herring Gulls and Lesser Black Backed Gulls, there were only a few Black Headed Gulls to be seen. Three Tufted Ducks (adult female and 2 youngsters) completed the rather short roll-call on my first circuit. I sat on a bench and watched what was going on. Eventually the Moorhen pair showed out on the water. There was no sign of any youngster however, so it doesn't look to have been as successful a year for the Moorhens as it has been for their bigger Coot cousins.
Even the skies above the ponds were relatively quiet with a few Swallows and House Martins passing over from time to time in addition to the gulls coming and going. A Woodpigeon did provide a little bit of variety, though while watching a gull over the island later I did pick up a passing Swift. I was a bit surprised to see the Portuguese ringed Lesser Black Backed Gull F389 had returned (if it had even been away). I managed to get a spot of video of the bird, finding that I was able to pick it out owing to its eye.
A second ringed bird, J4U2, one of the Norwegian Black Headed Gulls had also re-appeared, and I spent some time attempting to get a reasonable video clip of this bird too. There were a lot of Herring Gull/Lesser Black Backed Gull youngsters around and as always I scanned through them hoping to find something different. However, as I've yet to get my head round the features to look for when it comes to identifying Yellow Legged or Caspian Gulls this was never likely to be too successful. There was one bird that looked different enough to be something different, showing some features I think are correct for one of the rarer pair and I spent quite a while getting photos and video of this one from as many different angles as possible. I'm still not convinced it is anything unusual. One day I will find an odd one.
Despite the sun shining, it wasn't as warm as it had been forecast to be, and the wind chill made my decision to dress for summer look like a bad move, so I eventually decided to head for home at around1530. I added one last species on the way home - a pair of Collared Doves.
Only 14 species seen - but it got me out of the house. Species seen -
Black Headed Gull, Collared Dove, Coot, Herring Gull, House Martin,
Lesser Black Backed Gull, Mallard, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Feral Pigeon,
Swallow, Swift, Tufted Duck, Woodpigeon.
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| Mallard |
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| Tufted Duck |
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| Tufted Duck |
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| Coot |
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| Mallard |
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| Coot |
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| Moorhen |
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| Black Headed Gull |
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| Lesser Black Backed Gull |
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| Herring Gull (?) |
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| Herring Gull (?) |
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| Herring Gull (?) |
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| Herring Gull (?) |
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| Herring Gull (?) |
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| Herring Gull ?) |
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| Herring Gull (?) |
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| Herring Gull (?) |
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| Herring Gull (?) & Lesser Black Backed Gull |
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| Lesser Black Backed Gull |
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| Herring Gull & Lesser Black Backed Gull |
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| Herring Gull (?) |
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| Herring Gull (?) |
