26th August - Juvenile Arctic Skua in front of the Hide - Redwell strikes again !!!

The pictures really don't do the bird justice !! One minute the water held a few ducks generally milling about , the next we were treated to the Skua bobbing about on the waves - sneaking in unseen and unanounced !! It sat on the water, went up, flew around a bit, and came back to the water for some time, before flying again and vanishing to the north ! Shame about the light for the camera.

Spotted Redshank 18th August.


Spotted Redshank 23rd August, 1of 2 regularly appearing close to the hide over recent days.

Wood Sandpiper lingering nicely on the marsh ......

Meanwhile, crawling about at the lower level .... Cute ?

Photos by Ray Roche.

White Point

White Point trapped on the NOA reserve 26/8/08. Photo by Connor D. Rand.

Kestrel

A 1st year Kestrel trapped and ringed on the NOA reserve today (22/8/08). Photo by Connor D. Rand.

Ringing and mothing

Ringing and moth trapping are two activities that take place regularly on the NOA reserve, around the observatory. The top photo shows a Great spotted Woodpecker that has been trapped and ringed and the bottom photo shows a Scarce Bordered Straw caught in the moth trap, both on 21st August. Photos by Connor D. Rand.

Spotted Redshank

Spotted Redshank close to the hide at Redwell Marsh NOA on 18/8/08. Part of a something of a wader-fest here, with a Wood Sandpiper, 3 juvenile Little-ringed Plovers, 2 Green Sandpipers and 2 Common Sandpipers also present, with 7 Greenshanks west overhead. Incredibly the 22nd species of wader this year for this relatively small set of lagoons. Photos by Connor D. Rand.

Redwell Marsh and a feast of Waders

1st August Common Sandpiper. Regularly feeding along the muddy edge in front of the Hide. Recent weeks have seen an impressive range of Waders on the marsh - some have even allowed themselves to be caught on film !!

5th August Green Sandpiper in front of the hide. Individuals scattered throughout the marsh and flying in and out of the vegetation.

8th August. Wood Sandpiper with Green Sandpipers. With 1 Wood Sandpiper already on the marsh, this bird dropped in with a party of 4 Green Sandpiers. 3 Little stints also present on the marsh at the same time.



Common Sandpier 8th August.

9th August. 1 of 2 Turnstones that flew in together and fed on the mud immediately in front of the hide. A new species for Redwell ? The 21st species of wader on Redwell this year!

Pied Wagtail 8 August Nicely posed by the hide instead of running around on the mud and making the digiscopers life difficult !!!

all photos by Ray Roche