Great Crested Grebe, Chorlton Water Park
Another good year for the Grebes with the resident pair of Great Crested Grebes successfully nesting and rearing a new generation. With the nest carefully hidden away in the overhanging vegetation difficult to be sure about the exact number of fledglings just yet.
Still no sign of any Black-necked Grebes but with the aquatic vegetation growing more dense every year one day a stray must surely drop by 🙂
A well equipped bill !
A quick wander onto Barlow Tip to see if any more warblers have arrived.
Plenty of Willow Warblers, Chiff Chaffs, Blackcaps and Common Whitethroats. Still no sign of the Grasshopper Warblers, Lesser Whitethroats, Sedge Warblers or a returning Spotted Flycatcher last seen a couple of years ago. With the former tip becoming increasingly dominated by trees and scrub the chances of seeing Grasshopper and Sedge Warblers is reducing every year.
Great to see the Long-tailed Tits doing well. In fact they were everywhere – always enjoyable to watch, especially this time of year as they go through their full range of aerobatic skills plucking midges and other insects out of the air.
Common Whitethroat – one of several males.
Plenty of singing but no display flights. In common with other warblers the males tend to return first, establish a territory and then wait for the arrival of the females before courtship and display flights begin.