Autumn Marches On

I went to Rye Meads again today looking for the elusive Garganey that had been present for the last couple of days. First stop was the Draper Hide where a quick scan found a handful of sleeping Teal but no Garganey. However, my disappointment was rewarded by the unexpected appearance of a Kingfisher which landed on one of the posts in front of the hide. The Kingfishers have done very well this year and are now on their third brood in the Kingfisher Bank situated in front of the Kingfisher Hide on the west side of the reserve. The black bill and the orange feet show that this is the adult male.

Green Sandpipers are now firmly established and there were two on this pool today which gave reasonable views depite being harassed by Lapwing and Wood Pigeons for reasons totally unknown.

Other than that it was fairly quiet, although it noticeable that some birds will go to great lengths to have their photo taken. Take Moorhens for example. Moorhens are largely ignored by photographers as they are easy to approach, easy to photograph and therefore not really a challenge. So how do they get your attention? Well, for a bird that normally swims round aimlessly on ponds, this calls for drastic action to catch the eye. How about walking up a pole and stretching out your wing? That should do it.

But I digress. Autumn really does march on with the appearance of a number of Snipe. Snipe started to appear a week or so ago but are now building up their numbers with at least six present today. Their return does seem a little early and could be result of the topsy-turvy weather patterns recently upsetting their breeding success.

The Garganey did eventually show itself far out in front of the Tern Hide, but far too far for a photo.