Tuesday, May 16, 2017

Wednesday, May 03, 2017

Black-winged Stilts at March Farmers

On 14th May 2016 I made arguably my best 'rare' bird find in the Peterborough area (at least as far as finding birds for others to enjoy), when I found two White-winged Black Terns at March Farmers (towards the eastern end of the Nene Washes complex). This year, I think I may have found a challenger, having found, on 29th April, a Cambridgeshire record 'flock' of five Black-winged Stilts at the same site. As the birds have now left the vicinity (classic one day wonders as usual for stilts around here), I can report that there were two pairs among the five, both of which were seen to mate and one of which appeared to be showing signs of preparing a nest! My photos were distant and don't show all five birds, but for what they are worth, here are some...

Kingfisher, Ferry Meadows CP

Just after I took this photo, this Kingfisher, which appears to be a male, dashed low over the water, about 20m and attacked another one perched about five feet above the water (which I had not seen). Both birds fell into the water and continued fighting in the water for about five or six seconds, before both escaping and flying their separate ways. A brief but amazing battle.