counting coots

That's right kids, a migrant in the patch....

There I was, standing outside, discussing the merits of goalkeepers that play for north London Premier League teams, when a bird flew past, beyond and behind  the head of one of the people I was talking to (as I was not having the discussion on my own).  It was a Swallow.  Hurrah!

I managed to conceal my glee, make an erudite observation regarding Gomez and still take the year tick (58 for the year).

Sweet.

Hot on the heels of the last common juvenile bird, here comes another common juvenile bird, that is essentially rare on this patch.

The background is thus. Last year there was a small success with breeding of Great Crested Grebes, in that they raised one chick. This bird hung around with the resident pair for most of the winter until it was chased out of the patch. This year the breeding has been an unmitigated failure. In spring there was all that head wobbling and bobbing and the occasional bit of weed grabbing. All this courtship led to a nest on one of the few platforms that were available.

Which a pair of Swans commandeered.

The Grebes had a stab at a second nest after the Swan nest failed (you still with me?). This was however, pretty half hearted, and for the last month or so, all they have really done is feed up on high tide and then sleep it up on the Thames for the rest of the day.

So it was quite pleasing to find a juvenile at lunchtime. When I saw it in the distance initially I was hoping for something more exotic. But should have known better, as should you.

Some of you may have wondered where this 'Brent Reservoir' place is. Some of you may not give a shit. You would be right in thinking that it is in London, but it is a big place don't you know.

This picture taken from the hide may help you place it into a wider socio-geographic location.

However, if you don't know what that big shopping basket thingy is, and you still want to know where it is - look it up on the web or something yeah? There's a link down on the right somewhere.

Note that I said 'from the hide'. I have joined an exclusive club as I now have a key for the hide and spent some time there on Sunday afternoon. Mrs Thing was none to impressed by the size and volume of the spider webs in the ceiling, but as hides go - this one is quite luxurious. There was nothing to really shout about while we were there, but that is not the point. I did see many species of birds 'getting jiggy wid it' including Lapwing and Common Tern. I don't know specifically if this particular bird was involved in this behaviour but here is a pic anyway.

There are loads of Grebes on the water (but many more coots of course). Here is a picture of one of them.

On the way back towards the north circular, I saw a crow mobbing a large bird which I didn't think was a Heron. It could just have been the brief view or the light that made it not look like a Heron. Unfortunately as I was bombing down the Edgware Road in a ruddy great van, trying to change lanes at 40mph with a Beemer right up my arse, it wasn't the ideal time to keep looking up and left. Ho hum.

It would seem that over the weekend the vast majority of the Black Headed Gulls have all but disappeared – which is a harbinger of springy type events as one assumes that they are off to breed. On this stretch of the river at low(ish) tide in the winter, there would be two or three hundred along the foreshore along with the smattering of Common, Herring and BB’s. Today I spent an hour on the bank without seeing a single specimen land. A half dozen or so flew over the bridge, but that was it.

In the spirit of post continuity, here is a Grebe.