Kelsey Gardens News: Bird watching event report

Monday, May 9, 2011

Bird watching event report

After weeks of drought, the weather looked a bit threatening when the class was about to start, but we went ahead anyway! The morning started well with a distant Cuckoo heard from the car park. I managed to spot this and ensure everyone managed to find the bird in their binoculars. It was the first Cuckoo one participant had ever heard, whilst another had never seen one before. We then checked an unpromising industrial area, where a Lesser Whitethroat was belting out its unimpressive song. It gave brief views, but wasn’t seen clearly by all participants. We walked past the North Lake & reached a path with reeds to the left of us where Reed Warblers chuntered through their monotonous songs. At this moment there was a brief striking bubbling sound and a female Cuckoo flew away from the reeds giving brief views. A climb up & down a steep incline, which must have once overlooked the Humber, was most noticeable for its butterflies: at least 3 Orange-tips, a Speckled Wood and a Green-veined White. Along the ‘Path of Brian’ 2 Sedge Warblers were heard, and one gave very good views. More Reed Warblers were singing, and a Reed Bunting called briefly. The walk around South Lake resulted in a Great Crested Grebe, but we couldn’t spy the 3 youngsters. We then had a short walk along the old railway line where we saw Linnets, Whitethroats and a very confiding Willow Warbler. Here we also saw 2 Cuckoos following one another, but they were leaving the area we were studying. Long-tailed Tits were heard, but they failed to come into the open. We returned to South Lake for refreshments and another Cuckoo was spotted in a bare Ash tree. This then flew across South Lake, and one participant was able to follow it the whole way with his binoculars. Overall it was a very successful morning with more than 30 species either seen or heard!