Today was my last day off before I return to work and I joined up with Alan Shorrock to pay a call on Summer Leys. The blue skies and heat of Greece were soon forgotten as early rain and grey skies dominated throughout but if the weather was a bit on the drab side then at least the birding was a notch or two better.
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| Pintail and Snipes |
Our main target was the Glossy Ibis which has made the area its home for some time now though this was my first opportunity to catch up with it. An initial look from the Screen Hide did not produce the goods though we did see several Pintails. While walking from the screen towards Paul Britten Hide I picked the ibis up feeding on one of the islands. We had fairly good views before it flew off in the direction of Hardwater Lake. This species appears to be becoming more regular in the county now and birds are hanging around long enough for more people to view them. On the same island a group of seven Snipes were having a kip.
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| Glossy Ibis (with Little Egret and mooning Shoveller) |
The scrape is still flooded which meant that we saw little of note from Paul Britten Hide other than distant views of a Yellow-legged Gull on Fisherman's Point. At this range we couldn't rule Caspian out of the equation so took a walk around to the railway line for a closer look. The bird was quite leggy with a small head and a dark eye but ultimately didn't convince me that it wasn't a near adult Yellow-legged. Not too much else was noted though numbers of Wigeon appear to be building and there were good numbers of Shoveller too.
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| Yellow-legged Gull |
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