Wednesday, March 20, 2013
I set off late afternoon to walk to the flood, but I never got there. Eighteen snipe feeding together on East Marsh were worth a long look (the islands have been shorn of undergrowth, and I think the EA have tidied them up a bit as well).
A plover walking over the island from the other side made me concentrate hard. It was difficult to see it well with just bins and in dreadful light; I thought little ringed plover when I first saw it, then ringed plover because I couldn't make out a yellow eye ring. But I think the orangey bill and legs of a RP would stand out more than the yellow eye ring of LRP which is often difficult to see unless you have a scope. Looking again at this picture, I think the eye ring can just be made out. Maybe!
A ringing "tee-heu-heu" heralded the arrival of a redshank, and this was closely followed by a common sandpiper flying upstream and also landing nearby.
Finally, two small waders (which I identified as dunlin) were spotted feeding vigorously among the snipe, although here they can be seen (just!) with a lapwing and the redshank. The lapwing, usually so bossy, seemed a bit perplexed, as if he didn't know quite how to deal with this small influx of strangers.
As I continued to watch and the light continued to worsen, I began to think I was imagining things. The island the birds were on seemed to have got a lot smaller. Had the birds (and I) switched to another island? Then I realised that it was the river itself, rising imperceptibly as I stood there. Spooky. They must have opened the sluices; and by the time I left the island was almost completely submerged.
// posted by Christine @ 2:17 PM 
