Monday, September 09, 2013
Dorney
An evening walk in the rain brought a little egret on a tiny island above the weir on the Jubilee River, and a great crowd of swallows and house martins hunting near the weir - sometimes swooping low over the water below the weir so that I was looking down on them.
I counted eighteen snipe and one dunlin on the flood. A kingfisher flew out from the Roundmoor Ditch with a sharp call (possibly in pursuit of another bird) and then hovered above the flood for several seconds. It resembled a large blue-and-chestnut hummingbird; but it didn't appear to be hunting. It seemed more like territorial behaviour; and after a few seconds it flew back into the bushes along the stream.
At least ten yellow wagtails were on the common among the few co-operative cattle that were feeding. Most of the cattle were lying down, which is no good to them. There was much flying about and "swee"ing, as if to tell the cows to get up and graze. Nice to see more yellow wagtails there after the early ones in August.
The starlings were snapped on the common five days ago.