Wetland Birds Count

Paxton Pits along with other wetland reserves carry out a monthly count of the birds on the Pits  (WeBS). Beautiful morning for our December count though difficult for ID etc against the light. The most prominent birds for our route round Rudd, Cloudy and Weedy Lakes were the 40 or so Canada Geese plus this one Canada GooseXGreylag hybrid. Looking it up they appear quite common and very consistent in marking with just the head, neck length and beak revealing the Greylag parentage. All the usual Ducks plus a solitary Grey heron. Couldn't resist photographing the Long-tailed Tit at the end of the walk.

Great White and Little Egrets Abound at Paxton Pits

We counted around a dozen Great White Egrets, Little Egrets  and Grey Herons collectively at Paxton Pits during our Third Thursday walk today plus a pair of Great Crested Grebes in winter plumage but still preening in tandem as in their spring displays. 

Paxton 18th July

 A few images taken on the Third Thursday Walk at Paxton. A warm day so a few insects around including a Bee-wolf Wasp, Brimstone, Robber Fly and Southern Hawker, the Great Crested Grebes and the Common Terns were busy fishing and feeding their young, Tufted ducks have returned, while up to 6 Little Egrets have taken up residence with the Grey Herons.

St Albans Herons

I have visited St Albans most years from 2012 to watch the Herons and friends busy courting, mating and building nests around the second week in March. After a very sparse year in 2023, this year is encouraging as we located 5 nests and maybe a couple of unpaired youngsters. The early light with low sunshine was ideal but it clouded over later so a different approach in processing at the end. My favourite is the second image - sheer 'Joie de Vivre' which is how they made me feel. The grumpy one giving the evil eye to the Coot is probably more representative of their behaviour.

Paxton Pits

The mist cleared at Paxton on Saturday to give some wonderful reflections with the absence of wind. Cormorants, Herons, Coot and Moorhens were all getting on with building nests and setting up territories etc