Saturday, 20 April 2024

Garganey at Bank Island


 After another busy morning at football it was 2:45 when I entered the first hide at Bank Island. The above picture is the view I hide. I presume that a barn owl had been roosting inside the hide


droppings were over the floor, bench and door handle!

On the scrape were greylag geese


mallard, gadwall, mute swan


this swan had a ring on its right leg, this is as much detail as I could get.


This is one of two male shovelers


I then walked to the second hide where I joined TerryWeston, Terry told me that the garganey had flown off about 30 minutes before I arrived, however the black necked grebe was still present.


It was a long way from the hide, this is a heavily cropped version


A couple joined us in the hide and shortly afterwards Terry left. The couple then left as they were going to walk on to Wheldrake Ings. I watched a pair of buzzards as they flew back and forth, calling as they went from tree to tree. Then I saw a small light coloured duck fly across the water, it was the male garganey. It flew left, so I returned to the 1st hide I visited to see if it had returned.

There was no sign of it, a curlew flew in


and started to bathe


shortly after a second curlew landed


this one started to bathe. A pair of oystercatchers then landed


a second male shoveler appeared and after being chased by the other male they both landed next to each other and started head bobbing


"Big Bill" then arrived


All of the birds then looked to where it was as they al realised it would eat eggs or young.

I then returned to the 2nd hide for a last look for the male garganey but I could not see it.

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