I teamed up with Ian M for another of our occasional checks of Park Pit this morning and it was a surprisingly fruitful visit, with 53 species recorded in 3 hours. The most interesting sighting was a flock of seven juvenile
Grey Herons which circled the pit and briefly alighted in trees on the west side before moving off - roaming fledgers from Gatton Park perhaps? Or further? A
Little Egret was feeding on the lagoon, where seven
Egyptian Geese were loafing. A
Sand Martin, two
House Martins and six of both
Swallow and
Swift fed over the water but panic was stirred when a
Hobby flew through. Singles of
Red Kite,
Peregrine and
Kestrel were also logged. An adult
Black-headed Gull dropped in and a
Lesser Black-backed Gull flew over. A hormonal cob
Mute Swan tried his best to break up a loitering group of 10 non-breeding birds, seemingly including the previous year's young. A
Nuthatch, a
Treecreeper, a
Goldcrest and three
Coal Tits (including a juvenile) were recorded and it was great to see and hear the male
Reed Bunting still holding fort in the northwest corner. Two
Little Grebes and six
Great Crested Grebes busied themselves and four
Linnets bombed around. Worryingly, the only young waterbirds seen were four
Greylags and 17
Canada Geese - no chicks or juveniles of anything else! It was a delight to see my first Marbled Whites of the year, along with a handful of Small Heaths, and a good few Black-tailed Skimmers patrolled the margins. There was a pretty mighty lone Common Spotted Orchid specimen.
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| juvenile Grey Herons |
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| Great Crested Grebes |
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| Little Egret |
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| Marbled White |
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| Small Heath |
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| Common Spotted Orchid |
