Psilos Bird Journal
Saturday May 20th 2006
     
"She left us - again!"
With only a day to go to my Northumberland trip and with the promise of good weather Tom and I set out to Mere sands in the hopes of getting some good kingfisher shots. As seems to be the norm these days temperatures had fallen by the time we arrived and a hot drink was in order. Finishing it though was another matter entirely as several reed warblers singing and showing well from the bridge sent us running for our cameras.
 
 
Photographing these very active birds is quite the challenge, There seemed to be at least three pairs around and we could even fathom where one pair was nesting but fleeting glances were all that we often got. I tried laying low on the bridge but despite my efforts I didnt manage to get any clear satisfactory photos. The photo above was the best I managed all day. Still it was the first time I had seen them this season so I wasnt too disappointed.
     
Coot
     
Another lot of very vocal birds in the front ponds was a family of coot. The adults had five chicks and they were more than half grown. Often they were hidden as they fed amongst the reeds and water lillies but as I was sat on the bridge waiting for the reed warblers to show this adult came close and helped himself to some pond delicacies.
     

 
A male reed bunting on a nearby fence also gave me something to aim my lens at....
 
Blackbird
 
Calling into the first hide and finding no kingfisher we moved round to the Rufford hide at the rear of the reserve. Here we were to be entertained for most of the afternoon by a large number of different bird species. A pair of greater spotted woodpeckers were nesting somewhere behind the hide and kept flying across. There was also a large number of blackbirds(with young), a song thrush, greattits and jays. Blackcap could also be heard singing nearby and we caught brief glimpses as it flew across. On the water there were Tufted ducks, a single pochard, Canada geese, Great crested grebes, a little grebe furiously foraging for food in the muddy shallows and a totally unexpected bird that was about to take its leave......
 
 
Calling loudly and sounding more like a raptor than a duck a female Wood duck exploded from the water and flew fast and low in front of the hide. A pair of these birds were first seen here last year and this year they have bred. The female had started out with six chicks but now they were down to two. Expecting the female to return any moment we set about looking for her ducklings. Quickly we found them foraging silently amongst the lily pads seemingly totally unaware of their mothers absense. Or maybe they were by now used to her leaving them alone. Almost ten minutes rolled by before she silently and stealthily reappeared.

Despite the fact that we were sat in a hide the female was very wary and very easily spooked. Several times she flew away and was gone for well over ten minutes. Quite where she went nobody knew. The situation was also getting very tense. Before her final departure a grey heron flew in and started to look for food. We had heard from another visitor to the reserve that previously the same week the female had been seen on the back of a heron as it tried to take her chicks. So when she left and her chicks started to forage for food in the herons direction we started to worry.
The ducklings kept on going and got very close to the heron. Luck must have been shining on them that day or maybe the heron wasnt partial to duckling but at the last moment they turned and swam back to the safety of the reeds where their mother finally caught up with them. We then breathed a huge sigh of relief. My relief was to be short lived though as with a heavy heart we saw her lead her chicks into a different part of the lake that was open and totally without cover. My feeling is that she is a young inexperienced bird for a feel a more experienced female would not leave her ducklings unguarded for such long periods of time. As I see them finally swim away out of sight I just hope that she doesnt fly away whilst the ducklings are totally vulnerable in this open water.....
 
 
Returning to the visitor centre I notice this pheasant wandering around on the grass. The people there say that it is a megellanic pheasant but noticing his silver tail and comparing him with other photos I am not so sure. This pheasant also has traits of the green pheasant. Maybe he is a hybrid of some sort?