Tuesday August 6 - Earlswood Lakes

I felt like a change of venue today, so opted for Earlswood. It was a cloudy morning, brightening later with hardly any breeze.

As this was my first visit for over a month I chose to walk around all three lakes. The first one, Terry's Pool, gave me an Earlswood tick. The female Mandarin had first been noticed in late July so although I wasn't expecting to see it, I wasn't exactly surprised either.

Mandarin

 In fact Terry's Pool punched above its weight as I also recorded Marsh Tit, and Little Egret. The former was near the causeway between Terry's and Engine rather than in the more usual spot.

The other lakes hosted the usual fare including a Tufted Duck with two ducklings, several pairs of Great Crested Grebes with young on their backs, and a second Little Egret which was so confiding it would have been a crime not to photograph it.

No cropping, it was just very close.

In truth, Earlswood has been just as quiet as Morton Bagot this summer. Hopefully things will soon start to pick up.

News from Morton Bagot: A Great Tit controlled by the ringers on 27 July 2024 had been ringed as a fledgling in a nest box at Mays Wood near Wootton Wawen on May 10 2024. So that's a movement of three kilometres. Quite a decent journey for a Great Tit.