Local birding
Apart from the insane number of dog walkers who’d decided that they really had to walk their dogs on a nature reserve, it was a great morning at Stanpit Marsh today. I arrived at about 10:30. After chatting to some regulars about the best spot to watch roosting waders, I was walking closer to the shore along a spit when the sound of pinging Bearded Tits rang through the air! I turned back towards the bridge next to one of the reedbeds, and surprisingly, despite the fairly brisk wind, I soon had fantastic views of a male in the reeds. It, and a female, flitted around for a bit before flying across the path to a pathetically small patch of reeds on the the other side, where I lost them. I heard them call once again after that, but couldn’t see them again.
Other highlights were a Med Gull located amongst the large number of BHGs on the marsh, a nice flock of 50 or so Dunlin, about 30 Black-tailed Godwits, and a Dartford Warbler which crept around in a gorse bush (I suppose I’ll get used to those soon, but at the moment they still seem very exotic!). The supporting cast were the usual Brent Geese, Little Egret, large flocks of Wigeon, a few Pintail, a small flock of Ringed Plover, and a Sparrowhawk which went over (possibly what got the Beardies pinging in the first place).
Not bad for a spot less than 3 miles from home!
