The May Day weekend was a busy one for me, three walks in four days! On Friday afternoon I walked around the Chelmer Valley Nature Reserve with a few friends from work. Not too much going on that day but we did see Mistle Thrushes gathering worms for chicks, a glimpse of a Blackcap, some Chiffchaffs, Whitethroats, Comma and Small Tortoiseshell butterflies and quite a lot of rabbits.
On Saturday morning I took the bus to Writtle, another birdwatcher had posted to birdforum.net that Little Ringed Plovers were at a new reservoir on the Writtle Agricultural College land. I walked quite a bit around the area and got pretty sunburnt as it was really a lovely day. I missed the Little Ringed Plovers (but actually found one in one of the photos I took at the reservoir!) but saw a pair of Common Terns, a Grey Heron, lots of Tufted Ducks, Lesser Black-backed Gulls, Mallards with ducklings and along the rest of the walk I saw lots of Swallows, a Cuckoo in a tall tree off Cow-watering Lane, Whitethroats everywhere and the air was full of Orange Tip butterflies too, more than I'd ever seen! As I walked north past The Orchards along a field edge beside a stream a huge crow flew out of a tree ahead! I see lots of Carrion Crows around but this really was a BIG bird, far larger than the ones I regularly see. I didn't take in the details but size alone suggested it may have been a Raven, indeed the guy who'd told me about this place was around that morning and saw a huge crow he thought might be a Raven too. Rather tantalising!
On Monday I woke very early and left before 6am to walk to the Chelmer Valley Nature Reserve again, hoping I might see more than I did on Friday. At the automatic weir on the river by the Essex Record Office I saw a Grey Wagtail, the first I've seen so far this year, and at the river near Tesco on Springfield Road I saw a Moorhen with two young and a female Mallard with a large flotilla of ducklings in tow. On the north side of Victoria Road I saw a family of Song Thrushes by the river behind MacDonald's, at least four dumpy fledglings there keeping close to the protection of the nettles. Across the river a Song Thrush and a Blackbird were being harassed by a Blackbird fledgling, a very hungry chap, he was begging from any bird that came near (perhaps abandoned?). At the viaduct were lots of rabbits (there were huge numbers out all around the reserve this morning), one having lost an eye in the past, just healed-over skin where the right eye should be. Along the footpath in the wooded part of the reserve I watched a pair of Chaffinches courting and mating - the female leaning forward with her tail raised as the male shuffled in s-shapes around her with head and wings lowered, then they mated and he repeated the shuffling before mating again.
On the rough ground nearby lots of Whitethroats, greenfinches, more rabbits and lots of crows and magpies overhead. Green Woodpeckers calling from the trees and a possible Stock Dove on the meadow on the far side of the river, Swallows hawking for insects above. Walking back along the main path to the weir and bridge I took the riverside track and saw a pair of Blackcaps in a willow, too flighty to allow me long enough to raise my camera but a great view of the female through my binoculars, the best view I've ever had of these shy birds. Then in another willow a Wren belted out his ear-splitting song, only a few feet away. I took some photos of him singing and then headed back into town, watching a long-tailed tit taking insects to a hidden nest near the Riverside outide pool while a Sparrowhawk circled high overhead.
Not a bad weekend all told!
On Saturday morning I took the bus to Writtle, another birdwatcher had posted to birdforum.net that Little Ringed Plovers were at a new reservoir on the Writtle Agricultural College land. I walked quite a bit around the area and got pretty sunburnt as it was really a lovely day. I missed the Little Ringed Plovers (but actually found one in one of the photos I took at the reservoir!) but saw a pair of Common Terns, a Grey Heron, lots of Tufted Ducks, Lesser Black-backed Gulls, Mallards with ducklings and along the rest of the walk I saw lots of Swallows, a Cuckoo in a tall tree off Cow-watering Lane, Whitethroats everywhere and the air was full of Orange Tip butterflies too, more than I'd ever seen! As I walked north past The Orchards along a field edge beside a stream a huge crow flew out of a tree ahead! I see lots of Carrion Crows around but this really was a BIG bird, far larger than the ones I regularly see. I didn't take in the details but size alone suggested it may have been a Raven, indeed the guy who'd told me about this place was around that morning and saw a huge crow he thought might be a Raven too. Rather tantalising!
On Monday I woke very early and left before 6am to walk to the Chelmer Valley Nature Reserve again, hoping I might see more than I did on Friday. At the automatic weir on the river by the Essex Record Office I saw a Grey Wagtail, the first I've seen so far this year, and at the river near Tesco on Springfield Road I saw a Moorhen with two young and a female Mallard with a large flotilla of ducklings in tow. On the north side of Victoria Road I saw a family of Song Thrushes by the river behind MacDonald's, at least four dumpy fledglings there keeping close to the protection of the nettles. Across the river a Song Thrush and a Blackbird were being harassed by a Blackbird fledgling, a very hungry chap, he was begging from any bird that came near (perhaps abandoned?). At the viaduct were lots of rabbits (there were huge numbers out all around the reserve this morning), one having lost an eye in the past, just healed-over skin where the right eye should be. Along the footpath in the wooded part of the reserve I watched a pair of Chaffinches courting and mating - the female leaning forward with her tail raised as the male shuffled in s-shapes around her with head and wings lowered, then they mated and he repeated the shuffling before mating again.
On the rough ground nearby lots of Whitethroats, greenfinches, more rabbits and lots of crows and magpies overhead. Green Woodpeckers calling from the trees and a possible Stock Dove on the meadow on the far side of the river, Swallows hawking for insects above. Walking back along the main path to the weir and bridge I took the riverside track and saw a pair of Blackcaps in a willow, too flighty to allow me long enough to raise my camera but a great view of the female through my binoculars, the best view I've ever had of these shy birds. Then in another willow a Wren belted out his ear-splitting song, only a few feet away. I took some photos of him singing and then headed back into town, watching a long-tailed tit taking insects to a hidden nest near the Riverside outide pool while a Sparrowhawk circled high overhead.
Not a bad weekend all told!
Singing Wren in a riverside Willow
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