Wednesday 26 May 2010

Water, water everywhere...

Blimey, the water levels were really high at Holden Creek this evening. As I was there the tide continued to bring water in until it resembled not so much as creek, as a lake.
Anyhoo - I expect that a couple of pairs of spotted sandpiper will have lost eggs. I guess it's early enough for them to re-lay, if that is the case.
At least 2 pairs seem to have established their nests out of harms reach, as regards flooding.
There weren't any other waders in evidence - just goes to show that frequent coverage is essential as regards spring passage birds. The dowitchers, semi-palmated plovers and pectoral sandpipers, that I've seen, have all been one-dayers. Makes one wonder what was there, on the days no-one checked! That's the kind of thinking that can keep me awake at night!
A female purple martin briefly joined the other swallow species to make a full suite of hirundines and as I was leaving a handful of black swifts came in with a single Vaux's among them. As I watched them, the sky practically filled with swifts until there were approximately 80 blacks swirling around. I'd always just thought of black swifts as being pretty much the nearctic version of European common swift, but the more I see of them the more apparent it is that they are strikingly different in so many ways.  
 

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