Local Patch - 03/04/09

A cold foggy morning followed by blazing sun.

New in today: A single House Martin a five Barn Swallow lingered for a while in the fog, but eventually moved on. A third Little Ringed Plover joined the pair and much displaying/chasing occured. The Sedge Warbler was singing but remained shy.

A pair of Pied Wagtail have favoured the site recently.



Mute Swan



Whooper Swan (plastic)

Local Patch - 02/04/09

New arrivals today included a Sedge Warbler (first in Bedfordshire this spring?), singing male Blackcap, a second Little Ringed Plover, and a few Barn Swallow and House Martin which moved on quickly. A passing Peregrine was mobbed by the local Lapwing.



The resident pair of Grey Wagtail fed on the waters edge.

Local Patch - 30/03/09

New arrivals included another Little Ringed Plover - this one spending much of the day feeding and loafing on the scrape. The first Red Kite for the site this year 'appeared' above the scrape quite low before drifting off east. JL picked out a House Martin as the Hirundine numbers increased in the afternoon - certainly my earliest record in the UK ! Four new Mute swans joined the three 'residents' - one adult and three immature birds.

Todays shots were always going to be a bit rough as i'd left on the 1.4x converter, this only performs well with lashings of sunlight - which didn't happen.

Local patch - 27/03/09

My first Barn Swallow of the season (well, two actually !) was nice to see. It landed on some wires where it gave a few minutes of its 'twittering' song - a taste of the summer to come. A Grey Heron drifted past.

Local patch - 21/03/09

At Dunstable STW the fine weather continued, new arrivals included a Greylag Goose, an Egyptian Goose (a site tick for me), a Great-crested Grebe, and two Sand Martin.



On Nina's pond, the pair of Whooper Swan (of Wardown park origin) posed for the camera.

Local Patch - 06/03/09: Sand Martin

A single Sand Martin at Dunstable STW again - or another ?

Local Patch - 04/03/09: First African migrant arrives !

At Dunstable STW, my earliest ever Sand Martin - by all accounts, the third earliest for Bedfordshire! A Brambling was hanging around the feeders, and four Little Egret were disturbed by contractors. During the afternoon, a pair of Mandarin were found by JL.
So, please forgive the postage-sized record shot, for it's the symbolism behind the image that counts: SPRING has arrived !

Local Patch 20/02/09: Little Egret record count !

A site record of five Little Egret today at Dunstable STW.

Local Patch - 09/10/08: Flight fancies

Some reasonable light this morning, and a chance to practice (non-too successfully) tripod work with birds in flight.

Two Shoveler show off their underwings.



A Black-headed Gull, now in winter plumage, hunts for scraps over the lagoons.



Another Black-headed Gull (this one a 1st-winter plumaged bird) spots a UFO on the horizon

A Common Buzzard lowers its under-carriage

Local Patch - 01/09/08: Waders after rain

You would expect to see something after the torrent of rain we experienced yesterday, and a visit to Dunstable STW did not disappoint. While not quite the same as the halcyon days of the nineties (or earlier years), two Black-tailed Godwit and a Greenshank on the wader scrape, together, were notable !