Today Dodge and I did a skywatch early morning at Beddington in the hopes that the strong SW wind would force something to drop in. The sky was pretty empty for most of the time other than when a pair of adult Mediterranean Gulls flew south over the North Lake. Then just before I left Dodge to go and start some work with Charlie (Beddington Farmlands Warden) a Sand Martin briefly appeared. On 100 Acre Charlie found a Granulated Ground Beetle and I accidentally flushed up a Jack Snipe from one of the eastern beds. A male Stonechat and 2 Green Sandpiper were on Phase 2 Wet Grassland. On my route back across the Farmlands to get home for our meetings I went to check Phase 3 Wet Grassland because I knew no one else had looked there yet. Whilst scanning a gull that was sat down asleep caught my attention. Its mantle shade was clearly darker than the surrounding Herring Gulls but lighter than the adjacent Lesser Black-backed Gulls and so looked good for a possible adult Yellow-legged Gull. I wanted to get closer to it but scanned the rest of the area first to make sure there wasn't anything that might get flushed. Expecting nothing much other than the long-staying male Wigeon I was pleasantly to surprised to land my bins on a Black-tailed Godwit at the far end of the Wet Grassland. It was busily feeding amongst a few Black-headed Gulls. Because of this I did not get much closer to the gull in question but it did temporarily wake up and I am happy that it looks fine for an adult YLG.
 |
| Granulated Ground Beetle |
Adult YLG asleep above on the right and below
.JPG "Adult Yellow-legged Gull") |
| Compare mantle shade to Common Gull in front |
Black-tailed Godwit below:
.JPG "Adult Yellow-legged Gull")
.JPG "Adult Yellow-legged Gull")
.JPG "Adult Yellow-legged Gull")
.JPG "Adult Yellow-legged Gull")
.JPG "Black-tailed Godwit")
.JPG "Black-tailed Godwit")
.JPG "Black-tailed Godwit")
.JPG "Black-tailed Godwit")
.JPG "Adult Yellow-legged Gull")
.JPG "Adult Yellow-legged Gull")
.JPG "Black-tailed Godwit")
.JPG "Black-tailed Godwit")
.JPG "Black-tailed Godwit")
.JPG "Black-tailed Godwit")
Are phase 2 and phase 3 accessible to the public?
ReplyDeleteNo, but at certain points along the fence at the border with Beddington Park small sections of Phase 3 can just about be viewed but it is tricky.
Delete