Yesterday morning we headed to Bosherston Lakes to see if the scaups were still around. The three greater scaups (2 girls and the boy in feather migration) are with the two tufted duck (male and female) on the common side of the upper east arm. The boy less scaup (slightly more advanced in its feather migration) rests on a single different male tufted duck closer to the reedbed. It’s fun to compare their feathers and structural differences.
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| The boy bigger scaup |
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| The boy was not much of a scaup |
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| Lesser Scaup |
Eleven little grebes is resting near the coast in the lower eastern part where a great crested grebe made short work of catching and then dispatched a reasonable sized perch. We are sure they all know two otters which also feeds nearby. Goosandersalso feeds the lake, numbering eight in the lower arm and two in the upper arm.
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It also didn’t take long for the grebe to catch and eat the perch but possibly longer to digest it! |
Some old people cormorants are resting in the trees at the edge of the lake, displaying their subtle but nevertheless brilliant breeding plumage. Two local adults storks should start breeding any day now and two crows behaves very territorially in a regular location.Cootnumbered about 21 or so in the upper eastern arm but where is the gadwall they are usually associated with here? We didn’t see anything. At the top of the eight lake system goldfinchesalder cone seed feeding is accompanied by a female brotherwe looked hard but we could only see a siskin in the area.
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| A single siskin, quiet butsincerelyfeeding a small flock of goldfinches |
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| There is something to admire in the breeding plumage of an adult cormorant
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We hadn’t visited Castlemartin Corse for a while but decided to make an afternoon visit to see what was around. it was nice to bump into Caroline Pickett in the shelter/hideout. He and Annie saw thegreat white egretcoming – I caught the tip of its tail before it landed in the reedy pool. One girlmarsh harrieris hunting over the reeds and eventually thepale harrierCame down the slope from the Gupton area and provided some reasonable views as it hunted the area, occasionally settling in the vegetation. Ajuvenile peregrinewas also hunting in the area, sparring with the pallid harrier for a second or two at the far end of the reedbed. A few hundred or more lapwings
(mentioned at the beginning in two separate flocks) are often in the air in the valley. We’re not sure how many teal, wigeon o shovels is hidden in the reedy pool, but no less10 by the waycan be seen and continued calling others suggested a reasonable number. Just a little water rail and cetti’s warblers also heard but not seen.
Two choughs(probably a pair from the Castlemartin Range) were feeding in a field near Starman’s Hall andfour others(probably the ones Richard had seen earlier) were eating on the side of Kilpaison where there were at least a dozen or so scattered about.stock pigeonfeeding among the great flock of sheep there. Three small breeding grebes appeared in the afternoon.
Small number of starlings appear to gather to live in the reeds. However, as the conflict was interrupted between a patch of relatively deep and sticky soft mud and a wellington boot (the mud won, the owner of the wellington boot was left with slightly wet feet) we did not notice if they did it roost there or not? An interesting day all in all, but we should have been more aware of the extremely difficult conditions of the Castlemartin Corse access route in the wet!
