Winter wader wonderland

By Louise Treneman, Avon Wildlife Trust Living Landscape Assistant

As the days draw in and temperatures drop, birders wrap up, grab a flask and their binoculars and head in the direction of their nearest estuary. This is because the colder days and longer nights signal the start of one of the greatest birding sights of the year - the arrival of the waders. These are birds which wade along shorelines and mudflats foraging for food such as worms in mud or sand.

read more



from Avon Wildlife Trust blogs http://www.avonwildlifetrust.org.uk/blog/wildblog/2018/12/19/winter-wader-wonderland

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

2019 off to a reasonable start

Image
Overcast, 5°, light NNW. A Little Egret seen today on the way out to Lollingdon and appeared to drop down near Amwell Spring. The hill hosted around 100 Fieldfare and a flock of c50 Meadow Pipit for a time before moving off over the top. Several Reed Bunting and Yellowhammer around the hill and a single Corn Bunting . A small flock of c20 Pied Wagtail feeding out with the Sheep. A few more Fieldfare and Redwing scattered around the Lollingdon area, a Goldcrest , Grey Heron , Kestrel , a couple of Jay , 2 Bullfinch and several Starling amongst other species. A Brambling in a private garden. Per Alan Dawson. 2 Blackcap in TW’s garden and 2 Chiffchaff at CSW. The flock of c60 Golden Plover still around Cholsey Hill. Brambling (courtesy Alan Dawson) from Cholsey Wildlife https://cholseywildlife.blogspot.com/2019/01/2019-off-to-reasonable-start.html
Read more

A Butterfly day

Image
Another sunny day, 24°, light E. A walk alongside the Bunk line from Church road to the bypass. Butterflies were the order of the day with literally hundreds of Meadow Brown on the wing today. They were everywhere. Another 8 Painted Lady seen with some looking very tatty after a presumably long flight and ageing. Best one of the day was a single Silver-washed Fritillary seen flying around a large garden before disappearing from view. Good numbers of Marbled White all along the route. Other species noted were: Small Skipper , Large Skipper , Large White , Small White , Green-veined White , Brimstone (1), Brown Argus (3), Common Blue (8), Red Admiral (6), Small Tortoiseshell (c20), Comma (3), Speckled Wood (2), Ringlet (12) and Small Heath (2). Some thistles were in flower on the edge of a bean field and these held the majority of Painted Lady , Small Tort and Marbled White . Dragonflies: Banded Demoiselle (M&F), Large Red Damselfly and Southern Hawke
Read more

Warblers

Image
Cloudy with some light rain showers, 13°, light to fresh SSW. An early call from Alan this morning regarding a Grasshopper Warbler on Cholsey Marsh. A quick cup of tea and got to the marsh and as soon as I got out of the car I could see Alan and Brian Wyatt there and heard the Warbler reeling away in the depths of the reed bed. They are an annual visitor on Cholsey Marsh and have bred there in recent years. Several other Warblers were in song including, Blackcap , Common Whitethroat , Reed Warbler and Sedge Warbler . Also Cetti’s Warbler per Brian. All photos courtesy Alan Dawson. Reed Warbler Sedge Warbler Hairy Shieldbug from Cholsey Wildlife https://cholseywildlife.blogspot.com/2019/04/warblers.html
Read more