Fowlmere

A very quick spin around the reserve. Not much, but tested the new camera on a Common Darter and a Grass Snake.

 

Therfield Heath

An hour around Therfield Heath whilst Sam played football, and for the second visit in a row, a Spotted Flycatcher.

 

At dusk I walked around Wandlebury with Michelle.

Collared Dove (Day 4)

The Collared Dove was still in the box when I checked first thing, but by mid-morning had gone. Who knows what happened to it, but it looked quite healthy so maybe?

Collared Dove (Day 3)

The parents fed the Collared Dove during the day and it was now stronger and left the nestbox once. Pouring with rain, we put a roof over the nestbox and built a shelf filled with seed.

Collared Dove (Day 2)

Amazingly the Collared Dove had perked up a bit over night. We kept the cat in all day and put lots of seed down for the parents to feed it, which they did. Still unable to fly, we make a makeshift roost for it high in a tree in an old disused bird box, filling it with straw to keep it warm.

Essex and Collared Dove (Day 1)

With Sam’s football cancelled I had a free day. I’d planned to go to either the Norfolk or Suffolk coast but the weather looked awful so I had a sleep-in. When I eventually got up the weather was fine, so I went to the nearest bit of coast I could: Tollesbury in Essex, just an hour away, and a place I knew well. Perhaps not the best of choices as with the strong winds, no migrants were ever likely to be hanging around there. The migrants I did find during roughly a six mile walk were hundreds of Swallows(!), a Yellow Wagtail, and a Whimbrel.

During my walk, a Pectoral Sandpiper had turned up at nearby Abberton reservoir, so I went to have a look. No sign when I got there, but I did find a Black-necked Grebe.

Just before dusk, Tom found a Collared Dove in the garden that had obviously left the nest too early. The parents were still feeding it occasionally but it looked fairly week. With cats around we put it in a shoe box and roosted it in Tom’s room over night

Therfield Heath & Fowlmere

Walked around the Heath whilst Sam was football training. Managed to pick up a migrant Spotted Flycatcher as well as six Blackcaps.

A brief walk to Fowlmere produced a couple of Wigeon on the mere.

Therfield Heath & Shepreth L-moor

Spent a few hours around Therfield. Not an awful lot to report. Most interesting sighting was of over one hundred Swallows, nearly all juveniles on migration, perched just above the ground in a recently cut field. They were obviously feeding on insects on or near the ground but made for quite a strange sight and something I’ve not seen before. A few Chalkhill Blues were out, mostly quite tatty.

Shepreth was overgrown and held little.