counting coots

Yesterday was quite unusual on the patch dear reader, as there were actually some interesting birds. No, honestly, there was.

First thing in the morning there were two Swallows flying through. Very nice. And then a Grey Wagtail showed up. Since the successful breeding of this species earlier in the year they left, which makes me think that the habitat in the area is only just good enough to sustain a pair. They'll probably be back in the winter, so maybe they've just gone to the Wetland Centre to get fat for the winter.

Lunchtime was good too. On the Wandle there were two Kingfishers which flew downstream and onto the Thames, they flew directly over the attenuation ponds (remember them?) which makes them by far the most interesting species to 'use' the area. And then there was this.