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the path junction - lit up by afternoon sunshine
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Monday afternoon saw me back at the reserve around 2.30. It was still a sunny day, although with rather more cloud than this morning's clear sky. Here is what I recorded:
Birds:
SC209694 ( hide) there was a Song Thrush on the path in front of the hide; Great Tit; 2 x amorous Woodpigeon in Churchyard trees; 2 x Jackdaw in Churchyard trees; male and 2 x juvenile Blackbird; Greenfinch; Mallard drake; 2 x Moorhen; 2 x male Pheasant; Goldcrest in the reed bed.
SC209694 ( elsewhere) Goldfinch; Robin; 2 x Woodpigeon flying over; Magpie in Old School House garden trees; male Chaffinch; 2 x Robin together; Blackbird x 3 including male and female together; 2 x Blue Tit together; Jackdaw on chimney pot of Old School House.
SC208694 10 x Goldfinch flying over; Buzzard lingered right over my head (assessing my potential as a meal?) Great Tit; Woodpigeon flying over;
SC208695 male & female Chaffinch together; 2 x Great Tit together; Dunnock; Wren.
SC208695 ( feeders) Blue Tit; 2 x Great Tit.
SC209695 Long-tailed tit.
Other:
SC209694 6 x Yellow Dung Fly on Hogweed flower.
SC208694 Marsh marigold foliage showing through the grass tussocks.
SC209694 Queen Bumble bee on Blackthorn.
SC209694 Honey Bees in gorse and Blackthorn.
SC209694 abundant Pond Snails.
I headed first for the bird hide where little had changed since this morning:
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the Moorhens were still together
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the Mallard was still asleep but had moved to the water
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juvenile Blackbird
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seen from the hide
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a Greenfinch appeared briefly
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I moved on round the Reserve and as I stood on the boardwalk a Buzzard flew in and surveyed the reserve in slow circles.
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composite photo
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it hovered right above me before moving off
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Blue Tit among the Alder Catkins
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Great Tit
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Wren
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| Jackdaw |
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male Chaffinch
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pair of Chaffinches together
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the female of the pair
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and the male
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another male Chaffinch elsewhere
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After an initial circuit I returned to the hide. The Mallard had gone but just as I was taking a photo of the Moorhen it flew back in, resulting in this rather odd photo!
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it landed with a great skid and a splash
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then happily swam about for the rest of my visit
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the Moorhens kept close together
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gently clucking from time to time
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It was altogether a tranquil scene until suddenly from the reed bed, came the loud, raucous call of a male Pheasant. It was obviously a territorial challenge as it was answered immediately from the undergrowth to the right of the hide. There was no sign of either bird but they went on shouting at each other for about 10 minutes non-stop! When tranquility eventually returned sometime later, the bird on the right hand side looked out cautiously then returned to the undergrowth.
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has he gone or must I fight?
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Ten minutes later the Pheasant which had started the
shouting match emerged from behind the reeds and walked round the back
of the pond.  |
Male Pheasant shows itself at last....
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and sets off round the back of the pond
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a tiny bird was working through the reeds
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this proved to be a Goldcrest , sorry it's out of focus!
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a romantic scene in the churchyard trees
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this went on for some time
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she seemed willing to mate but he flew away!
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meanwhile there were 2 Blackbirds together at the back of the pond
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a different immature bird from this morning, I think
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and an adult male
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over at the dragonfly pond there were pond snails on the stones
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and about 8 were on the surface like this
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early Hogweed flower attracting insects
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there were 6 Yellow Dung Flies
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Blackthorn attracting a large Bumble Bee
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White-tailed Queen, I think, although white tail not visible here
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a good flow of water over the dam
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bubbles at the stream inlet pipe
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the stream near the boardwalk
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the gorse boundary near the dragonfly pond
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and looking the other way
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the Aspens coming into bud over the boundary
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yellow gorse looks lovely against a blue sky
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view from the boardwalk - compare with this morning's photo
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looking back across the meadow to the hide
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a better view of the laid hedge than this morning's
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and a final view of the hide before returning home.
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Two visits in one day to the Reserve made for plenty of fresh air and exercise - I slept very well on Monday night!
please click on photos to enlarge them
