13 April 2022 - Hollingworth Lake
« Newer | Older »2 Sandwich Terns, several Swallows & Sand Martins, Grey Heron, Buzzard, Fieldfare, Chiffchaff
Woke up this morning to a very dull, drizzly start, but headed out anyway. The drizzle soon cleared up but the morning was incredibly overcast. A Chiffchaff performed for a short while by the willows, and a couple of Swallows went overhead. I then sat in the hide for a while where the pair of Great Crested Grebes were busying around the nest area again, occasionally coming close. At one point a Grey Heron flew in and landed just to the right of the hide, posing for photos. Another couple of Swallows flew through, just above the trees. After a while I left the hide and walked to the Pavilion area where I scanned the water only to notice two terns across the far side near the Wine Press. At first I thought they were Common Terns, but one landed on a buoy and by taking a photo and zooming in, I realised they were Sandwich Terns. The first I've had here for many years. I was then in a quandary, since they seemed to have settled down, each on adjacent buoys near the Rowing Club car park, but I was on the opposite side of the lake. I decided to chance it and headed back round as quickly as I could walk and luckily they stayed put until I reached the road, where I was able to spend some time photographing them, mainly perched but occasionally doing short flights. At 09:25 they abruptly took off and flew higher and higher, heading off to the south.
Flushed with success I headed down to Shaw Moss, and en route had several groups of Sand Martins overhead, and one or two more Swallows. At Shaw Moss, the pools were quiet with just a couple of pairs of Teal. A Buzzard flew past distantly but low down, and a Fieldfare landed in a tree, also distant. Heading back, more Sand Martins went over, and a Buzzard, possibly the same one, was soaring high above Rakewood.
Chiffchaff, 1/500 sec. f/7.1 500 mm, ISO 6400
Great Crested Grebe, 1/640 sec. f/7.1 500 mm, ISO 4000 (view full size image)
Grey Heron, 1/80 sec. f/7.1 343 mm, ISO 800 (view full size image)
Swallows, 1/640 sec. f/7.1 500 mm, ISO 800 (view full size image)
Sandwich Tern, 1/500 sec. f/7.1 500 mm, ISO 1000
Sandwich Tern, 1/100 sec. f/7.1 500 mm, ISO 100
Sandwich Terns, 1/500 sec. f/7.1 500 mm, ISO 1000