FoPL Readers Corner: November 2023

In less than ideal conditions I made another visit this afternoon to the SOS site at Venus Pool near Cross Houses. Here are some highlights.

Two adult Mute Swans with a cygnet from this year.

I took a poor photo of a Shelduck at Priorslee Balancing Lake last Friday. Here is a better photo of one. This a drake with the large swelling at the base of his bill.

Very smart.

"Don't dribble".

"If I paddle hard I can just reach the vegetation on the bottom".

It must be more shallow here if this pair of Common Teal can reach, the drake on the left.

A drake Shoveler flies by.

And two more, both yet to complete their moult in to breeding plumage.

A drake Eurasian Wigeon. Also not in full breeding plumage with a few retained feather from its juvenile or eclipse plumage worn during last summer.

And a duck Eurasian Wigeon.

A more prosaic species: a duck Mallard flies by. She looks almost to be smiling at me.

Good to see. A large number of Lapwings were present, always jumpy and ready to take to the air at the slightest hint of a nearby predator.

It is surprisingly difficult to take acceptable flying shots of Lapwings as they continually change direction and orientation. Today I was more successful than usual and here is a selection from many, many attempts. Starting with a single bird.

And another.

And again.

A duo.

A trio. The pale fringes to the feathers on the back and wings will soon wear away leaving the birds in their glossy breeding plumage.

A quartet with their crests blowing in the breeze.

A few more.

Close inspection shows there are at least 18 Common Snipe lurking in the grass. In the foreground is another moulting drake Eurasian Wigeon. A duck is hidden in the grass at the left.

Four Common Snipe here.

Five here. The bird second from the left looks smaller. Could it be a Jack Snipe? Sadly not. That species has a solid dark crown. It lacks the pale crown stripe of the Common Snipe which it must therefore be.

If Lapwing are difficult to photograph in flight then snipe have the added challenge that they are very fast-flying. Here one comes in to land. Note the small feathers extending from the middle of the forewing. These are known as alulae and are replicated on aircraft as leading edge slats, both helping with directional control at low speed.

Something spooked the main bulk of them giving me an opportunity to try and photo them in flight. A few attempts start with this quartet.

And another quartet.

Elegant?

A wisp of snipe here. Well 'wisp' is what I have always thought of as the collective noun for this species. Apparently 'walk' is the more usual with 'flight' and 'bevy' along with 'wisp' all being alternatives. 'Wisp' it will stay for me.

A small wisp.

Coming in to land.

An underside view.

Magpies are usually only occasional here. Today eight gathered in a noisy group. I read that such gatherings allow birds to 'change families' and hence mix the gene pool for even greater successful breeding.

A quick visit to the SOS Venus Pool Reserve today, during some brief sunny spells, netted a few images:

This Barnacle Goose has been present for some weeks and seems happy to be among the Greylag Geese. It is unringed but whether it is really 'wild' is open to question.

A group of Greylag Geese. The closer bird has a distinctly 'frosted' look with paler cheeks. I have no idea why.

A Greylag Goose sporting a ring. Some research, with thanks to Richard of Dee Estuary Birding for the link, tells me this was ringed as an adult at Llanwern, Gwent in June 2018. It has also been noted here at Venus Pool in 2021 and 2022.

Seen departing is an Egyptian Goose. It can easily be picked out in flight as the only goose with extensive white on both the upper- and under-wing even when the unusual facial pattern cannot be seen.