Thursday, July 25, 2013
A returning snipe
Late afternoon I decided to ignore my sore throat and visit the flood. Five black-tailed godwits in summer plumage had been reported yesterday, and it was nice to see them still there. Four were feeding constantly while the fifth slept.
Yesterday a mallard was here with ten ducklings, and many of them were still around today; in fact one has got itself into the picture below. Also, in the foreground on the left-hand side, is a snipe - which I failed to notice at the time. (I note from my blog that I saw my first returning snipe last year on August 14th on the very dried-out common flood and then two on August 19th on the Eton Wick flood.)
As I walked away I realised that all the birds had gone up in the air, but a willow tree was in the way so I don't know what spooked them. I walked back to the gap to see the birds already settling again, although one godwit seemed to have left completely.
// posted by Christine @ 10:30 AM 
