Bowling Green Marsh, August 14th 2006.
It was one of those days, when one does not know what to wear, and you end up wearing most of what you carry! About 25 of us assembled and so we split into 2 groups. I went with the lot that went to the hide first, and there were lots of birds, as ever, but the trouble was that the ducks were all in eclipse plumage. This made it very difficult to identify them, as they all looked the same colour, and were not calling, so it was a case of different shapes and sizes. However the star of the show for me was a very handsome Garganey, which gently paddled up the channel in front of us, with the sun full on his back so that the white stood out, and the intricate patterns were very obvious, and very beautiful. It is one of our smaller and less common ducks, so it was nice to see it so clearly, because it is usually rather hidden and is a dull grey, brown and white, but not today. It is usually found in inland waters, coastal areas and marshes. It is our only summer visiting duck; the main identification is a white eye stripe. There were Wigeons, Shovelers, Teals and Mallards all to be sorted out by the experts!
There was a group of Greenshanks near the far reeds, a very tall elegant and rather ghostly wader, fewer and nearer were some of their cousins, the Redshanks. There was a Dabchick, still with its red head, popping up every now and then the far side by a patch of rushed, not easy to spot. There were lots of Dunlin flying in, in little groups.
At the Goat Walk we saw some Terns, mostly Sandwich, but a few Common, and a “Comic Turn” which there was a debate about, and probably a Common, but might have been an Arctic. Not easy to tell at a distance, as the main difference is the black tip on the Common Tern’s bill.
As I got back to the car park, I was greeted by a grinning Mark who said that I was going to be gutted. He has started with our group and at the Goat Walk had decided to return to the hide. They watched an Osprey gutting a fish, so I was not the only thing gutted, and they had wonderful views! Typically I am always in the wrong place. I think I shall have to be content with my glimpse of an Osprey at Exminster Marshes a few years ago, and my Osprey is jinxed like John’s Water Rail!
Ann Crawford
No. species: 51
Birds seen, in BOU order or alphabetic order
BOU order Mute Swan
Greylag Goose
Canada Goose
Brent Goose
Shelduck
Wigeon
Teal
Mallard
Garganey
Shoveler
Little Grebe Cormorant Little Egret Grey Heron Buzzard Osprey Kestrel Moorhen Coot Little Ringed Plover Lapwing Dunlin Black-tailed Godwit Bar-tailed Goldwit Whimbrel Curlew Redshank Greenshank Green Sandpiper Common Sandpiper Black-headed gull Lesser Black-backed Gull Herring Gull Sandwich Tern Common Tern Wood Pigeon Great Spotted Woodpecker Swallow House Martin Pied Wagtail Wren Dunnock RobinReed Warbler
Long-tailed Tit Blue Tit Great Tit Carrion Crow House Sparrow Greenfinch Goldfinch Alphabetic order Bar-tailed Goldwit Black-headed gull Black-tailed Godwit Blue TitBrent Goose
BuzzardCanada Goose
Carrion Crow Common Sandpiper Common Tern Coot Cormorant Curlew Dunlin DunnockGarganey
Goldfinch Great Spotted Woodpecker Great Tit Green Sandpiper Greenfinch Greenshank Grey HeronGreylag Goose
Herring Gull House Martin House Sparrow Kestrel Lapwing Lesser Black-backed Gull Little Egret Little Grebe Little Ringed Plover Long-tailed TitMallard
Moorhen Mute Swan Osprey Pied Wagtail RedshankReed Warbler
Robin Sandwich TernShelduck
Shoveler
SwallowTeal
WhimbrelWigeon
Wood Pigeon Wren