Courtesy of DW on what turned out to be a blustery day with little sunshine that still managed to produce 6 annuals for me and 5 for himself.
First off were c20 Sand Martin concentrated in an area where their previous years nest site is. Presumably these will disperse further down river as the days pass and more arrive.
A Dipper put on a great show and gave very good photo opportunities to boot. Throughout the walk we must have seen 5 such birds.
First off were c20 Sand Martin concentrated in an area where their previous years nest site is. Presumably these will disperse further down river as the days pass and more arrive.
A Dipper put on a great show and gave very good photo opportunities to boot. Throughout the walk we must have seen 5 such birds.
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| Photos: DW |
Common Sandpiper were present but only a few of them. The reason may be the river was still in full spate with only small patches of stones available for them to potter about on.
The hillside bare rocky land was basically barren with just one Wheatear being seen, however Dave picked up a distant very mobile Peregrine.
A Blackcap was heard singing and soon subsequently seen with another 3/4 heard afterwards.
The one bird we were almost desperate to see gave us a merry run around until it sang just once. This was sufficient for us to get the briefest of views of a male Pied Flycatcher.
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| Photos: DW |
After a fairly long search for Mandarin a single male flew by and dropped onto the river staying within camera shot fortunately. Further down by the bridge a female Goosander chose to stay on dry land just for a change.
There were quite a few singing Song Thrush and Nuthatch throughout.
Other birds seen include Buzzard, Jay, Lapwing, Grey & Pied Wagtail, Green Woodpecker, GSW, Treecreeper, WW & Chiffchaff.
