Wednesday 2 July 2014

Sun, Sea & Sandwiches

Yesterday we had our penultimate visit to Kilnsea to see the Little Tern Colony.  Previous visits may be seen here & here:

It was sunny and warm.  The first bird seen was a confiding Skylark in the car park.  There were plenty of butterflies and other insects down Beacon Lane.  We saw a couple of Sedge Warblers and a whole family of Whitethroats, but the bird life was pretty sparse.  However, everything changed as we neared the tern colony.  There were Grey Plovers, Dunlin and Bar-tailed Godwits in summer plumage; whilst both Sandwich Terns and Common Terns also flew overhead.  Some even managed to spot Little Tern chicks among the pebbles.  The Little Terns seem to be on course for success this year.  There have been about 53 nests so far with most producing 3 chicks.  Unfortunately one of their 3 guards has had disappeared from sudden illness, so they no longer have 24-hour protection.  Despite this Kieran is on the night shift, trying to prevent any Fox attacks! Last year, the first year of 24-hour protection, was the most successful in living memory.  It remains to be seen if this feat can be reproduced.  I suppose the odds are against it because of human frailty.

Little Tern (c) 2014 Maggie Bruce
 Little Tern (c) 2014 Maggie Bruce
 Little Tern (c) 2014 Maggie Bruce
 Little Tern (c) 2014 Maggie Bruce
 Avocet
 Ditto
 Skylark (c) 2014 Chris Cox
 Skylark (c) 2014 Chris Cox
 Skylark (c) 2014 Chris Cox
 Red Admiral
 Gatekeeper
Gatekeeper (c) 2014 Chris Cox
 Comma (c) 2014 Chris Cox
 Comma (c) 2014 Chris Cox
 Record Shot of Pintail
 Avocet (c) 2014 Chris Cox
 Dunlin & Bar-tailed Godwit (c) 2014 Maggie Bruce [Download problem]
 Grey Plovers (c) 2014 Maggie Bruce [Download problem]
 Little Tern (c) 2014 Maggie Bruce
Redshank

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