Paxton on a Sunny Afternoon

Amazing where three hours can go sitting in a hide overlooking water! I was entertained by hunting Norfolk Hawkers and by many familiar subjects, including Great Crested Grebes sitting on a new nest having we think lost all three chicks at quite a mature stage to the Cormorants, several Egrets and one of the three Heron Chicks now confidently fishing along the margins of the Lake. 

Paxton Pits Juveniles

Very much a nature diary entry as the heat haze yesterday afternoon made sharp distant images very difficult but what a wonderful 3 hours spent doing nothing but watching this year's youngsters  starting to learn their skills and showing visitors the delights of the reserve. I didn't see either of the two Kingfishers catch anything but they were very busy practising their dives while the Heron chicks were still squabbling and showing off inappropriately as teenagers do.  I only recorded six Cygnets but they were moving around a lot. The remaining Grebe chick was staying close to one parent while the other went off hunting and came back with a crayfish I think. The adult Heron was just trying to find something to feed those youngsters on or get them to leave the nest and do their own hunting. The Dunnock wins on the subtlety of its plumage.

Heron Update

A few images of one of  Paxton's Heron families  - definitely three very boisterous teenagers now  competing to get food from the parent and beginning to trial jumps and flaps prior to their first flight. It was very contrasty light in the morning yesterday.

Macro Session at Paxton Pits

A very enjoyable morning at Paxton on Friday wandering through the reserve taking images of what we saw, trying to choose good specimens and good angles of view. Damselflies very active now along with a good variety of spiders!! The first image is a member of the Mayfly family with the most extraordinary eyes - I think it is a Small spurwing but the ID app prefers Pond Olive though I have never seen one of that species with these protruberances, The black Hoverfly is yet to be confirmed on species as this too is new to me.

Final Summer Migrants Arrive at Paxton

While the Heron chicks are getting ready for fledging with short exploratory leaps, the final summer migrants have arrived with the sky full of Hobbies and Sand Martins while the Cuckoo was both seen and heard. More images of the Great Crested Grebe family to come  - fingers crossed the young survive the Cormorant attacks etc.