Red-breasted Mergansers at Amwell

This morning was the first cloudy morning for some time and an opportunity to leave the camera in the cupboard and do some indoor jobs. However at 11.00am I received an email from Joan Thompson saying that there had been a report of a pair of Red-breasted Mergansers at Amwell which was quickly followed by another email from Mike Ilett to say that, via Bill Last, the mergansers were still there. So the indoor jobs were quickly abandoned and I was on my way.

Arriving at the viewpoint I quickly located them by the island at the south end of the lake, Unfortunately, as I was walking down towards the Gladwin Hide they started swimming northwards up the lake and were soon far out in the middle. However, luckily after diving for 10 minutes out in the middle they once more started moving back to the island and eventually swam between the island and the hide which gave some close views.

Norton Green Revisited

I had nothing planned for the morning as the forecast was for rain. However, when I looked out of the window it was sunny. I decided not to go far anyway as showers were still forecast but when it was still wall-to-wall sunshine at 1.00pm I decided to go back to Norton Green to have another crack at the Ring Ouzel.

Typically, when I arrived "it had just flown off" and was being searched for at the north end of the site. I made my way up there and stood staring at a Hawthorn bush in full leaf where the bird was suspected to be lurking. The good news was that while we were waiting for the bird to emerge from the bush there was a sideshow of eight Wheatears feeding on the bank. They were a bit flighty even, though we were motionless, but did pose for a few shots.

By now the Ring Ouzel had emerged from the bush and had flown over a brow with just it's head showing. Eventually, once it had settled down and had started to feed again, Mike Hooper and I were able to steadily move up the slope to gain height and get an uninterrupted view of the bird. Although the bird was probably within 30-40 yards it seemed either oblivious or unperturbed by our presence and was feeding throughout, allowing a number of photos to be taken.

Pipits and Wagtails

There had been both Water and Rock Pipits reported from Startops Reservoir near Tring so I made my way over there to chance my luck. Most of the action seemed to be in front of the hide which is set on the east side of the reservoir on the bank that runs between the Marsworth and Startops reservoirs. This was ideal as it meant that the light was behind me.

In the event the only Rock Pipit was on an island way out in the reservoir and there was no sign of the Water Pipit. There was, however, a constant stream of other pipits and wagtails to keep me busy. First up was a Pied Wagtail followed by a Meadow Pipit which quite obligingly fed right in front of the hide.

However, the stars of the day were a pair of Grey Wagtails which were quite showy. The male is the bird just starting to show his black bib. The Grey Wagtail is one of those birds where, no matter how many photos you have taken previously, you can never resist taking some more.

Also see my Flickr site at www.flickr.com/photos/seymourbirdies

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