Sunday, September 14, 2008 - Garganey at Farlington |
Had some free time Saturday afternoon, so without any obvious clues from the weather, decided to head for Farlington, and stake out the reed beds at dusk.
Afternoon there was pretty tame with 2 Whinchats, a Wheatear, a Peregrine making a fairly easy kill on the salt marsh, and a few Yellow Wagtails heard but not seen. My visit clashed with low tide so Waders were mainly miles out in the bay. Did see plenty of Black Tailed Godwits, and a few Grey Plovers.
As the evening drew closer, I settled down on the bank below the horizon, and scanned the freshwater lagoon and reed beds. Was lucky to see a Water Rail skip over a distant Reed bed, crash landing presumably in his roost spot, and a Green Sandpiper dropped in briefly.
Best find was a Garganey. Never confident with these in eclipse plumage, but a passing birder checked it out and agreed with me. A bit later another birder told me it looked like a Mallard, which it did, kind of! Well, they are both Ducks, this one was half the size, plus a few additional subtle differences. Even worse this Birder and partner stopped on the horizon chatting to me as dusk rapidly grew nearer, threatening to blow my cover which I'd spent the last hour sitting in wet grass, getting bitten to hell and back to try and become part of the scenery. They did however move on, and I can't blame them for seeing absolutely nothing as light faded!
Visited "Buzzard-World" on Friday evening, and only counted 17. Perhaps the rain forced a few of them into the trees, or maybe they are finally starting to move on. |
| • Post A Comment! |
|
About Me
Diary of wildlife watching in and around North Baddesley, Hampshire.
Friends
|
