My phone (which is also my alarm) crashed in the night, so I missed the window to go vis migging at Ferry Meadows this morning. Compensation came with a nice Chiffchaff in our garden later in the day, while I was enjoying a cuppa and dreaming of Yellow-browed Warbler here. Close but no cigar as the cliché goes. In the evening I found myself at Tanholt pits, feeling disappointed that there were no passage waders, just a couple of Snipe, and a handful of new-in Wigeon. I got distracted by some ‘peeping’ calls and noticed a baby Little Grebe (Dabchick), following an adult Coot around closely, begging to be fed. I took a few photos.
As the adult Coot eventually made its escape, I looked up to see a juvenile Osprey hovering over the middle of this small pit. I pointed my camera and got the dreaded message ‘Card full’ hastily I tried to delete a picture or two, as it came closer and hovered less than 50m away, but I was too late… Or so I thought, until I checked the card later on and found I had taken one Osprey photo (below).
I waited for the Osprey to come back, but eventually cut my losses and drove out to Eldernell to look for a reported Hen Harrier. I stood with the finder, Derek L and we counted egrets coming in to roost at Eldernell Lake, just after sunset, this pleasant evening. The totals were 45 Little Egrets, 4 Great White Egrets and 2 Cattle Egrets drifting overhead and in to the roost. Remarkable when you consider how rare these birds just a few years ago! We also enjoyed distant views of half a dozen Marsh Harriers, a couple of Barn Owls and 5 Cranes looking for somewhere to roost.
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