Wader fest, interrupted

Monday, 07 September 2009
High tide 13.46 (4.6m) Low tide 19.09 (0.9m)
Overcast, light SW breeze, warm

Now Farlington is at it’s best for getting unforgettable views of large numbers of waders gathered, in a multitude of different plumages, during the autumn. The gathering on the main lake is really quite a spectacle and must be seen! September is arguably the best month for this. I visited the reserve this afternoon to correspond to the period of high tide so that I could enjoy this very same thing. I wasn’t disappointed. The lake held an impressive 508 Grey Plovers, 19 Knot, 125 Dunlin and 370 Black-tailed Godwits along with many hundreds of Redshank. Scarcer waders included a Spotted Redshank, two Avocets, a Common Sandpiper, a Common Snipe and four Greenshanks. Being overcast, and without too much heat haze, I managed to take some passable video clips of some of the roost later which can be seen here (each clip shows Grey Plover, Knot, and Dunlin):

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I say later as my attention was taken up by a Kingfisher which paraded itself on the old rotten posts at the front of the lake just down from the official viewpoint. At the same time, and vying for my attention, was a male Marsh Harrier that had appeared over the middle of the reserve and was now low over the reedbed and disappearing fast. I persisted with Kingfisher as this was a good opportunity for taking pictures of it. I seem to remember suggesting to the birder I was with at the time that Marsh Harrier was no match, in points at least, for Kingfisher in the “want to see” stakes. Well see for yourself – pics below (of just the Kingfisher of course…. I’m very biased in these things and wish for everyone else to be too! No, the reality was that the flying harrier, a smart male, was never going to be an easy subject for digiscoping).

I would say that although the overcast conditions had helped me with getting record video clips of the waders, it wasn’t doing many favours for showing up the real vivid colours of the Kingfisher. This really does have to be seen to be believed: electric blues, metatllic greens and bright oranges are merely words to describe what IS the most colourful resident British bird.