Sunday 6 May 2012

May at North Cave Wetlands

What a wonderful reserve this is. A little more than a decade old and this mosaic of wetlands created from an old sand and gravel quarry is blossoming, every visit is different and offers new surprises. The weather today was of sunny spells, with a light drizzle as we were leaving, and, although cold, 8°C, it wasn't windy, so we it was quite pleasant to walk around the perimeter of the reserve. A cloud of Swifts, House Martins, Swallows and Sand Martins flying low feasting on mosquitoes and flies greeted us (Male St Marks Fly above). From the South Hide we watched a pair of Black Necked Grebes feeding, they spend more time diving than on the surface, but they were great to watch. Many Black-Headed gulls were sitting on tidy nests, as well as Coots and a majestic Mute Swan.
Overall, we saw a whopping 44 bird species on the reserve this morning.
Black-Necked Grebe
Red-Legged Partridge
a floppy eared Rabbit
Coot
Black-headed gulls on nests
Mute swan on nest on Reed Lake
Male Reed Bunting on Reed Lake
A pond at the SE corner of the reserve, mirroring the changing sky
Bird list
  1. Avocet 
  2. Black-headed Gull 
  3. Black-necked Grebe 
  4. Blackbird 
  5. Blackcap 
  6. Blue Tit 
  7. Carrion Crow 
  8. Chaffinch 
  9. Coot 
  10. Dunnock 
  11. Feral Pigeon 
  12. Gadwall 
  13. Goldfinch 
  14. Great Black-backed Gull 
  15. Great Tit 
  16. Greenfinch 
  17. Greylag Goose 
  18. House Martin 
  19. House Sparrow 
  20. Jackdaw 
  21. Lapwing 
  22. Little Grebe 
  23. Long-tailed Tit 
  24. Mallard 
  25. Moorhen 
  26. Mute Swan 
  27. Oystercatcher 
  28. Pied Wagtail
  29. Red-legged Partridge 
  30. Redshank 
  31. Reed Bunting 
  32. Robin 
  33. Rook 
  34. Sand Martin 
  35. Sedge Warbler 
  36. Shelduck 
  37. Skylark 
  38. Swallow 
  39. Swift 
  40. Tree Sparrow 
  41. Tufted Duck 
  42. Willow Warbler 
  43. Woodpigeon 
  44. Wren 

No comments: