Another colourful addition at Bev's. 4th May 2012.

 News came through of 3 Black necked grebes at Bev's, and so it was time to set off once again. Steve Blain text me to say they were there and so the short drive seemed to take twice as long! On arrival I was put onto them by Mark Thomas,many thanks for viewing through your scope, and then I got my gear and headed on site. Shortly thereafter Bev called me to see what was going on and I put him onto the grebes. Bev was working on his mobile hide and what a godsend that will be if the rain continues, and being mobile if the water levels increase any more it will double up as a ARK!

 All 3 birds were staying in the south east corner and so I made my way along the south hedge line. They obviously liked this bay of the lake but more times the viewing ended like the images above, with them fleeing the Great crested grebes. The Great crested grebe continually sought them out wherever they were on the lake and regularly dispersed them away.

 They would always move back to the same bay though, and over an hour later I had moved myself into a decent position and awaited their return.

 As you can see from the images they slowly moved in closer, always wary of the pair of Great crested grebes nearby.

 They then moved so close I could not see them against the bank in front of my position, I waited until they slowly moved along the waters edge and once again into view where I was able to bag some welcome images.

 They were now in a sheltered spot and against a better backdrop and would of stayed there had it not been for the Great crested grebe that once again re-located them and made haste towards the 3 birds.

 As depicted in the image below, all eyes were on the Great crested' heading their way, they then made a move for it and headed out into the centre of the lake, still pursued. I was glad with the images I had gotten of these stunning grebes and with darkening skies left for home once more.

Bar tailed Godwit at Mr Bank's. 03rd May 2012.

 I had missed the Black tailed Godwit here earlier in the year and so after finishing up some work on the Blog I decided to take a quick look at Beds BirdClub site, and am I glad I did.

 Just over half an hour before a single Bar Tailed Godwit was still present at Bev's. At quick change parade and grab my gear and I was on route. As soon as I got out of the car I saw the Godwit through the bins and so I was happy. I then proceeded to get some images of this lovely wader and I was joined by Bev who also had good views of the bird as it fed.

A new month at "Mr Banks" Terns' out a new bird!

May 02nd 2012.

 With a lot of species moving through Broom, not too far away, I headed up to Bev's, in the hope I may connect with something new. As before with the amount of water around, the sky was full of Swallows and Martins but on this occasion I think they were outnumbered by the Swifts. They were swooping past me within a couple of feet, over the lake and filling the skies, unfortunately for me the light was so bloody awful I was even going to attempt to try some flight shots!

 Four Shelducks graced the scrape but did not hang around for long. After busily feeding the Swallows rested up on the fence lines, a couple of birds displaying a reddish underside.

 A single Dunlin was still present, 4 last time, busily feeding along the waters edge, and in the company of the Little ringed plovers and Ringed plovers. I noticed some of the blokes from the Lodge RSPB viewing from the gate and thinking Steve Blain would be amongst them, let him know of the Dunlin. Sure enough he replied that there were 3 Arctic terns there now!

 I had been busy watching the Dunlin and I hadn't spent much time watching the terns,only now and again

in the hope of a passing Black tern, I frantically tried to locate one of the Arctics' through the bins and finally nailed them with a couple of record shots too.

  

"A brief spell of sun had me Hare'in to the fields"

 The start to another month and the weather is still dismal. A very brief break in the grey rainy weather led me to the middens. Despite being sodden the Hares were very active following the females around, more content on tracking the source of the scent trails they ventured close enough for a few shots.

 Skylarks were amicable and posed for a couple of shots too, contrasting nicely against the crop backdrop. And as vocal as ever even on the ground.

 The male Wheatear was roaming further afield now but I managed to find him for a quick pose, one of the other middens held a couple of female birds, but only gave the opportunity for a brief snap preferring to stay to the back of the heaps.

"Some sun at Last".30th April 2012.

 With a day of sunny spells, for a change, I headed off for a few hours to one of the local dumps. Nigel Blake was already there and had let me know what was about earlier. I left him to work with a Skylark whilst I headed to the opposite end just to make the most of the weather and grab some shots.

 There was plenty of activity there, and along with the Skylarks singing high in the air, they were also in full song whilst moving along the furrows of the manure heaps. A couple of Corn Buntings put in some contrasting calls, they are such a bulky bird when up against Chaffinch and Wagtails.

 The Yellow wagtails were confiding at times and the rest of the time busily getting into scraps with rival birds. I love seeing the Yellow wagtails return, such a stunning bird, it would be nice to get a different 'Yellow' this year its been a while since the 'Channel and Blue' were seen.

 A lone male Wheatear graced the area where I was viewing and came close enough for a few shots, although it ventured off into the crop field for some time before returning. They seem a lot more laid back compared to the more energetic wagtails, more a sentry bird scanning from the higher mounds.

 They make a nice contrast against the crop fields behind.

 Time to clean up the tail feathers, it can be messy work moving around the middens.

 It was nice to get down to the middens again but the pending forecast is not looking great, so I was thankful to bag these, but rain or not I will keep an eye on the heaps just in case.



"Bursting Banks" at "Mr Bank's"

 Rain rain rain and more rain. The end of April and I still haven't been able to do any mothing or much photography due to the weather and it didn't look like improving any time soon either. But I received a call from Bev telling me of the state of the Ivel river, literally it looked as though the banks were going to go. What is such a contrasting thought is that just a few weeks back the level was so low that the cattle got across from the Common onto Bev's land!

 So with a smaller camera set up, I headed off to at least get a shot of the river for the diary. And my god was the level high, as you can see. And what is evident when you're there is that the lake and land is below the water level of the river. The Ringed plover nests were washed over now the lake levels had risen, but they were still present alongside the Little ringed plovers and Lapwings, now nesting further from the water line.

 But despite the grey sky I was glad to of gone as I ticked off Swift,Sand Martin and House Martin. I had already seen Swallow there and now with the rising water the insects obviously were in abundance. The Sand Martins and House Martins were in the tens' of, and a handful of Swifts was a welcoming sight. So I went for silhouette shots as a record.

 As I walked back to the car the weather took a sudden change and the sun shone through and I then noticed some small waders sat up on the scrape. A distant record shot gave up 3 Dunlin with another sat up with the Ringed plover a short distance away. With a rough estimation the site list for 2012 stands at 83 species.

New additions becoming more "Common". 20th April 2012.

Due to the weather and shift work I had not been to "Bev's" for the last week, whilst sleeping after a night shift I was later to find out I had missed a Sandwich Tern there, that makes 2 different species I had wanted to connect with there still awaiting their addition to the site list. 

 The Ringed plovers were still active, although the water level had made part of the scrape water logged, hopefully not to the detriment of the nests.

 A single LRP was still showing well and staying loyal to the end of the main scrape.

 And the joy of finding the Common Terns before took a boost when after the sun came up as I counted 8 birds active all over the lake.

 The Mute Swans were mating still and courting one another.

 There were some baby ducklings present although Bev did inform me that the large gulls had taken virtually all of them the week before. The pair of Lesser Black backed gulls were still showing whilst I was there but hopefully the Black headed gulls and Common Terns would ward them off.

 As a pair of Common Buzzards drifted over the lake I got a shot off of an extremely pale bird, when it banked its white plumage really stood out, not sure if this paired to the usual one that sits on the A1 lights but I had not seen this bird before, and a shame it didn't venture nearer.

 Then whilst waiting for the terns to move closer I heard a Sedge Warbler calling from the rough grassy area adjacent to the river. Once I had caught sight of it I then noticed that there was a pair of them, but I was interrupted watching them as two Wrens were rolling around the undergrowth seemingly fighting to the death until they were aware of my presence and they departed, a third Wren following presumably the fought after female.

 And as my time neared its end, duties calling, I noticed a small wader at the end of the scrape, and as I raised my bins' I was greeted by another addition to the site list, a Common Sandpiper. I grabbed a couple of record shots and then headed for the car....chuffed once again.