LRPs have dwindled away from their peak of 12 or 13 birds last weekend - 5 were noted today, including 4 adults and a juvenile. A Common Sand still lingers, as do 2 Oystercatchers. A Shelduck that arrived yesterday was still present on the spit as was the single Teal. A male Pochard also returned last weekend, but having seen it a few times in the week, I couldn't find it today.
New in was a juvenile Little Egret, possibly a local breeder. Its knees and lower legs looked strangely thick and ungainly.
YL Gulls are still much in evidence, though the mix seems to change day to day. Today there were 6 birds, 3 adults and 3 2nd summers. The 2nd summer birds all looked familiar, but the adults included a darkish eyed individual that I first saw a few days ago and another new bird that had a ghosting effect of a hood coming through.
The post breeding Black-headed Gulls have been building over the past fortnight and now number into 3 figures, including about 5 juveniles. Today, a bird wearing a black darvic on its left leg and white code P430 caught my attention. It also had a metal BTO type ring on its right leg. A quick look at the CR website showed it to be a bird ringed in Lithuania and a very quick response from that scheme gave the following details: it was ringed on 30th March 2010 as a 3cy+ female at Dumpiai dump, Klaipeda, Lithuania on the Baltic coast. It was seen again there on 10th April 2011 and now here at LMGP!
There was another bird wearing only a BTO type ring on its right leg, but not much chance of reading that!
The breeding Common Terns have now raised 3 juveniles to flying stage - this bird had been handed quite a large fish and struggled to eat it.
Another breeding success was a newly fledged Great-crested Grebe chick seen sitting on its parent's back and also swimming and diving independently.
A pair of Egyptian Geese, one with a pale head, hatched 7 goslings just over a week ago. These soon became 6 - 3 light birds and 3 darker birds, but they lasted about a week. Earlier this week, 2 of the lighter birds vanished and we are now left with 4.
A bit of excitement in the afternoon when an immature Peregrine, probably a 2cy bird, buzzed the spit a couple of times before flying off west. This is probably the same bird seen a few times back in the Spring - where it has been in the meantime - who knows?
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