We are coming to the end of the Summer survey season, but sill a few more weeks on the local survey before I close it down for the winter. So on a fresh but sunny day it was good to take the opportunity to get another walk in.
The biggest surprise was a juvenile Moorhen in the gardens. Although only a few hundred yards from the Tarn, they do not normally venture far from the water. More amazingly it was standing on top of a hedge! They are good climbers and can frequently be seen climbing amongst water side trees and bushes. It took off as soon as it saw me, heading back in the direction of the Tarn. Apart from the Moorhen there was little wildlife activity in the gardens except for a single Small White Butterfly, a group of Common Carder Bees, a couple of Buff-tailed Bumblebees and a single Honey Bee.
Most of the summer migrants have either left, or are preparing to leave, and so the Tarn is occupied by its resident population. The Robins are already beginning to sing again and most of the juvenile waterbirds now resemble their parents. There were still a couple of recognisable juvenile Coots, perhaps from a late brood, but the geese and ducks very much look like adults. There was a Grey heron roosting on one of the Islands, a sign that they have dispersed from their breeding colonies to find places to spend the winter. A few Common Darters were the only dragonflies seen and having said a week or so ago that I had only recorded males here, I saw my first female darter on the site.
Pete's Favourite Things 