Another Try for the Fingringhoe Nightingales

5th May 2013

As is customary on these occasions I called in at Abberton for breakfast. It was extremely quiet on the wildfowl front but this was more than compensated for by the six or so Greenshank, unfortunately too distant for a photo, and a couple of Little Ringed Plovers at the base of the concrete bank. You can tell they are Little Ringed due to the brownish legs (Ringed are orange), and the conspicuous gold eye ring.

 

On to Fingringhoe and a little more action this time, with a number of birds in full song. A Chiffchaff was singing loudly from one tree and seemed unaware that I was standing quite close with my camera.

On the way to the picnic area I could hear a Whitethroat with his random jumble of notes. He was initially singing from a beautiful gorse bus, but then unfortunately moved to a rather bare tree, which was great for seeing him but provided a far less attractive setting.

Next stop was the picnic area itself where, in the tall trees on the side, could be heard the start of a Chaffinch song, which is the song of a Lesser Whitethroat. Although it was calling fairly frequently, it was difficult to locate high up in the canopy and far too distant for a photo. However, after about half an hour it moved into some lower trees and eventually appeared in the open for this shot.

So now for the Nightingales. In and around the picnic area there were at least 10 singing males of which I saw four, although they were too deep in cover for any chance of a photo. However if you wait long enough they will sing for a while in full view. I managed to photograph two birds, one singing from the top of a Hawthorn and the other on the edge of a bare tree.