Wednesday, 4 June 2014

Latest bird news from Rye Harbour Nature Reserve

This week's highlight is a Black Headed Gull regurgitating food for its chicks! (Including a slow-motion bit when another gull tries to steal the food)



There's a strange mix of Black Headed Gulls across the different islands in the reserve. Some have no chicks yet:
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Others have chicks 1-2 weeks old:
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While this floating enclosure has much older chicks in it:
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My theory is that the best nest sites, which are furthest away from the banks and hides, get taken first, so they have the older chicks. No idea if that's what really happens though! This is my favourite gull picture of the day anyway:
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We saw quite a few other different birds this time, such as Cormorants:
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A tufted duck (right at the limit of the zoom range of my lens):
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A Redshank, I think (also some distance off):
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A Little Egret fishing in one of the tidal streams that flow in and our of the lagoons:
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And also several Avocets. In these two photos there are Avocet chicks, but in the second one it's hard to spot at first!
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I like these ones of an Avocet trawling for food...
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And finally, a token non-bird photo - a Common Blue butterfly, at the inland side of the reserve:
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More to come after our next visit...

Mike

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