Pennington Flash

Heron, a second-year bird

The morning's jobs being done and dusted I didn't feel like doing much. The temptation was to sit around the house saying: "Oh, my poor aching bones," but the cat was doing enough of that for both of us so I dragged myself over to Pennington Flash to see what was about. The weather wasn't clever, which quite often results in good birdwatching here.

I bought myself an ice cream and sat down by the flash and had a scan round. There were a few mallards about with ducklings, most of the Canada geese, mute swans and coots were busy with nests on the little pools, and a few tufted ducks and great crested grebes were feeding out on the water. There were perhaps a dozen lesser black-backs on the water with a couple of herring gulls, a far cry from the huge rafts of a couple of months ago. There were still good numbers of black-headed gulls as they breed here.

Further out, near the sailing club, small darting shapes turned out to be house martins and swallows feeding low over the water. Further yet, near the far shore, a couple of dozen common terns spent more time wheeling about than feeding. I managed to pick out an Arctic tern from the throng, there may have been more but they were too far out to identify. I noticed a smaller bird flying low between the sailing club and a big, red buoy. Little gulls have been reported on and off the past couple of weeks, I've not seen any since before lockdown so I got my hopes up. But no, not a little gull, it was a tern. At first I thought it must be a little tern as it looked like it was half the size of the other terns. Then it flew past a dark background and I realised it wasn't a silhouette against bright water, it was a black tern. It whizzed about, stopping every so often to swoop down to feed from low over the water. Not a bad consolation prize.

There were a few cormorants and lapwings at the end of the spit at Horrocks Hide and stock doves fed on the grass. The car park Cetti's warbler sang from the reeds by the hide for a change.

The pool opposite the Tom Edmondson Hide

The weather had tidied itself up a bit while I was in the Horrocks Hide. Walking along the path there were plenty of chiffchaffs and blackcaps singing while blue tits, great tits and robins quietly collected food for hungry mouths and a pair of mistle thrushes rattled in the treetops. A couple of mute swans dozed as they sat on nests on pools by the path. A reed warbler sang from the usual place in the reeds by the pool opposite the Tom Edmondson Hide, striking poses as it sang and disappearing every time the camera got it into focus.

From the Tom Edmondson Hide

At the Tom Edmondson Hide half a dozen herons competed with a mute swan to see who could make themselves the more objectionable to some Canada geese. There was no sign of any goslings about so I think it was just natural bad temper in play.

Mallard with ducklings

The usual Cetti's warbler sang from the corner by Ramsdales and a couple of willow warblers joined the chiffchaffs. A couple of pairs of lapwings had youngsters feeding on the mud by the hide, the adults keeping a couple of meters away from the chicks to divert attention away from them. The Canada geese here had goslings in tow and were keeping them confined to one of the islands out of mischief's way. No sign of any little ringed plovers today, a couple of common sandpipers taking their place.

Common sandpiper

Lapwing chick

I walked up the path and followed it round by the canal. Chiffchaffs were largely replaced by willow warblers and whitethroats along this stretch.

Heron and little egret

Gadwall and shoveler

There were a lot of gadwalls on the pool at Teal Hide, a couple of dozen of them at least with most out on the water and a few lurking in the reeds over on the far side. A heron and a little egret loafed on the far bank while a handful each of tufted ducks and shovelers dozed on mud banks. Half a dozen pairs of black-headed gulls were nesting on the big shingle island and they made their views very plain indeed whenever any of the Canada geese on the pool got too close.

Three-cornered leek

The ramsons and three-cornered leeks were in full bloom by the Bunting Hide, the bluebells were well overblown and a bit trampled by squirrels. There were more squirrels feeding in front of the hide, accompanied by a couple of dozen stock doves, a similar number of reed buntings and a supporting cast of blue tits, great tits, robins and chaffinches. A male bullfinch flew in, as much to show off as to feed.

Bullfinch

The Bunting Hide

I realised my flat cap had fallen out of my pocket so I retraced my steps back beyond the Teal Hide with no joy, bumping into a family of long-tailed tits and another Cetti's warbler along the way. I still had a beanie cap with me but that doesn't have the same magical powers over rain as the flat cap did.

I had one last look over the flash before heading back for the bus stop without adding any to the day's tally. I'd somehow managed to see fifty-five species of birds without really trying. It's a very good site for those "I'm not convinced I can be bothered" days.

From the Teal Hide