Avalon Marshes migrants
GRW still present singing and showing well, today 3pm.
Male cuckoo, bitterns booming and showing, whimbrel and plenty of hobbies.
Great Reed singing and showing intermittently at 11am BH Monday - also seven other warbler species singing!
& again today
GRW was seen better during the day than it was in the evening, still present this morning
Spot red was still at VP1 as well
29-Apr-2023
Nice Find Andy: Still present in the NW corner of Loxton’s Marsh, singing well & showing very intermittently up to 16:00hrs I when left it. Also a daytime calling Tawny Owl and a Hobby.
A Great Reed Warbler found in the NW corner of Loxtons early evening today, Ham Wall, with Sean D. Was first just giving the odd grunt or churr with minutes in between so it took a while to be sure. It moved about quite a bit up until 8.30 and it’s intriguing to wonder just when it arrived. After 8.30, it perked up and sang quite strongly to dusk, seemingly settled in one spot. Not seen by any of the few on site as far as I know.
Also a handful of Whimbrel, a drake Garganey, the Spotshank for Sean, and 2 Dunlin from 1VP. Just 1 Hobby for me.
At Catcott earlier, a Ringed Plover and a drake Garganey.
Sweet.
My photo of the 4 (2 adults & 2 immatures) in flight, taken from VP1 at Ham Wall on 25th, can be seen on this Twitter link
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FukEYshaUAAmlnp?format=jpg&name=small
Thanks. All 4 are still at chew valley lake today (despite only 3 being seen in flight yesterday)
On ageing - bird spot says that further south they breed all year round, but only 1 brood
I could not find the Ibises at Ham Wall yesterday (26th) when I searched between 3pm and 5.30pm
Did anyone see the glossies at ham wall around 3.30pm yesterday? If so, then birds at chew are different
They could just as easily have come up from Spain as been bred locally (last year) - the majority of autumn arrivals are immatures, so guess it’s not a family affair. Also glossies join together & separate for a pastime, so unfortunately doesn’t prove anything (seems 3 of them passed through chew this afternoon)
... My guess would be that none of the Ibis were hatched this year.
That was certainly my initial thought, but other people were getting excited. The juveniles look mature, rather than newly hatched—no sign of begging etc. But presumably the adults are their parents. So, the question is, how long do ibis young go around with their parents? And think of the timing. There was a pair of ibis present. One disappears—sitting on a nest? Are these the young? Anyway, I’m far from an expert. I’ll let others decide.
Also a ruff with the 9 blackwits
...and roosting this evening with the Ibis were 30 Whimbrel. The Pochard Tufted hybrid was on 2VP lagoon a bit earlier… My guess would be that none of the Ibis were hatched this year.
Can add Spotted Redshank and male Garganey to Julian’s sightings.