kingfisher & wigeon

Two hours of boredom followed by two minutes of excitement is often how my mornings at Bretton go. I was on the point of leaving when six Wigeon suddenly appeared (a new bird for me at the Lakes),  quickly upstaged by the male Kingfisher using multiple perches just a few feet away – hallelujah!

These eclipsing drake Wigeon were a real surprise, especially at this time of year, and whilst it’s possible in the dim and distant past I’ve encountered them before at Bretton, my rather inadequate notes make no mention. 

The Common Terns were about briefly again today but were muscled out by this spoiling Black-headed Gull. The gulls hardly ever visit the Upper Lake except to make a bloody nuisance of themselves it seems!

tern

Common Terns are irregular visitors to the Lakes, so to have a pair putting in daily appearances this month has been a special treat.  There’s no shortage of small fish for them here not to mention perches from which to catch and eat them but the birds are of course at their best when in flight or spectacularly diving head first at their prey. Unfortunately armed with the wrong lens to capture this, you’ll have to be content with this rather mundane pose but rest assured I’ll be back to try my luck again soon.

One of the several pairs of Tufted Ducks have successfully reared a small brood in an old Coot nest. The ducklings definitely have the edge in the cuteness stakes over the more familiar Mallards I think.

On Cascade Bridge a rather irate pair of Grey Wagtails gave me the feeling I wasn’t wanted. They’ve used the bridge to nest under for many years so I can only assume some recently fledged chicks were close by.  

grebe family

After pulling their disappearing act for a couple of weeks it’s good to see the Great Crested Grebe family are still in one piece. All four youngsters are doing well but will continue to make demands on their parents for a good while yet even though their submarine skills are developing fast.

Not much else to report except that two heron nests are still occupied and a Common Tern continues to visit the lakes. The regular male Great Spotted Woodpecker at the feeding station was prowling around for a free lunch again this morning and certainly earned his nuts with some beautiful poses.

  

mipit

Only a few Meadow Pipits are present on the periphery of the park but are nevertheless  worth seeking out at this time of year as they perform their remarkable parachute displays.

With young scurrying around in the grass at the moment the adults are often very approachable as they do their best to keep your attention away from the vulnerable chicks.

bank vole

This little fella’s been hanging around the feeding station for weeks now but always a little quick for me. Today though, with inhibitions left in the burrow, he treated us to a stunning performance just a few feet away. Although one of our commenest rodents, Bank Voles are still very difficult to get decent views of as their predators are many and it doesn’t pay to attract too much attention.

In Menagerie Wood a pair of Great Spotted Woodpeckers are busy feeding young in their tree-top nest hole. The chicks are just a few days from fledging and are making a real racket everytime the adults appear. As well as me the noise also attracts unwanted attention from neighbouring Jackdaws and Kestrels – the male is seen here telling them to shut up basically!  

Something rather nasty has happened to this young Grey Heron though importantly the flight feathers are still in full working order. It might just be a fishing accident of course but a more miserable looking bird I’ve never seen!