Avocets, Terns and Gulls at Rye Harbour

Once again the Avocets are the star of the show this week - I captured this video of two pairs of them fighting! Ironically their offspring seem to all be getting along fine, but I'm sure they'll learn from their parents soon enough!

Although the chicks do spend time on their own now, they're never far from their parents, and follow them closely some of the time:

I was fortunate to get a few pictures of one of the adults flying:

They weren't the only birds flying though, I also got this Little Egret (which doesn't look so little when it's in flight!):

and also some Sandwich Terns:

This Cormorant had other ideas, preferring to head downwards... Watch the video to see how long it dives underwater for! I now understand why they spend time sat around with their wings spread out to dry!

The Common Terns now have their chicks hatched:

I think the Sandwich Terns do too, but the shrubs on their island have grown up so much I can't see them any more! The Black Headed Gull offspring are now heading into the juvenile stage:

But this doesn't stop them annoying their parents by begging for food!

Some of them have hatched much later though, and are still tiny:

You can see the difference between them and their peers that are just a few weeks older here:

The adults meanwhile are continuing to model ideal gull behaviour for their offspring...

Finally, I got my first picture of a Linnet at Rye Harbour, though it's not as sharp as I would like...

and I also saw a Sparrow, with its beak stuffed full of food! :-)

Anyway that's all for now. I've been busy up at the woods too, fixing tracks now they've dried out, and processing seasoned wood into logs ready for winter. Doesn't make for exciting photos though!

Mike

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Avocets and their chicks at Rye Harbour Nature Reserve

I reckon the Avocets and their chicks are the most interesting birds to watch at Rye Harbour Nature Reserve at the moment. Check them out in the this video, the chicks are very cute!

The adult Avocets are quite striking in appearance:

When they're feeding they walk through a shallow pool trawling the bottom for things to eat:

Sometimes it looks like they're really digging deep!

I was watching two adults with two chicks. Some of the time they stayed close together:

But they were also happy to be separated by quite a distance, though I assume the parents were keeping a close eye out for danger.

The chicks really do look like they are carefully watching and copying the parents!

I did of course go and see how the Black Headed Gull chicks were doing. They're growing up a bit, but unlike the Avocets, they prefer to sit and wait for the parents to bring food to them.

They have at least figured out that they can go and get a drink by themselves!

I wasn't sure about this pair of gulls, maybe they weren't breeding this year, or weren't successful?

They do look to be good friends though!

I saw a Redshank again, and this time it landed right in front of the bird hide, so I got some better pictures:

A Tufted Duck was around again too:

And an Oyster Catcher too:

I was also pleased to get a photo of a Sandwich Tern in flight:

This isn't such a good photo, but I wanted to include it because the Tern appears to not really be looking where it is going!

Finally, a pleasant sunset as I walked back to the car...

Mike

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Chicks hatched at Rye Harbour Nature Reserve

The Black Headed Gull chicks are out!

Here's a short video of them:

Interestingly, they've only hatched in one of the lakes, I guess the birds nested there earlier. On the other side there's no chicks, and lots of Sandwich Terns:

Plus a few Oyster Catchers too:

Next update in a few days...

Mike

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Common Terns and Sandwich Terns mating at Rye Harbour Nature Reserve

After our last trip to Rye Harbour Nature Reserve, I resolved to visit about once a week to see the progress of the birds nesting and the chicks emerging. Well, the Black Headed gulls are still there, and making an awful lot of noise!

I took a short video so you can get an idea of the racket they're making:

Some of them seem to have got a bit carried away with their nest building....

The gulls are now sharing the islands with Terns, some of which are mating:

Again, a short video:

This weekend I learned how to tell the difference between a Common Tern and a Sandwich Tern, both of which were present. Here's a Common Tern, which has smooth head feathers and an orange beak with a black tip:

while at the top right of this picture (click for a larger version on Flickr) are Sandwich Terns, whose head feathers look like spiky hair and whose beaks are black with a yellow tip.

Looking forward to seeing some chicks hatching soon!

Mike

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