It's the weekend, so time to escape from the apartment and head to the Pivot Fields again. With the Lockdown hours, this is really the only site worthy of visiting as JPR is still closed due to Covid.
The number of Bee-eaters have reduced considerably since my last visit and this morning only Blue-cheeked were seen.
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| Blue-cheeked Bee-eater (Merops persicus) |
I visited the small pool created by the Pivots, finding a couple of Red-throated Pipit's coming to drink
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| Red-throated Pipit (Anthus cervinus) |
There were both Little and Temminck's Stint foraging around the edge of pool
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| Little Stint (Calidris minuta) |
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| Little (Calidris minuta) and Temminck’s Stint (Calidris temminckii) for comparison |
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| Temminck’s Stint (Calidris temminckii) |
and a Wood Sandpiper in the pool
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| Wood Sandpiper (Tringa glareola) |
A small Firebug caught my attention just beyond the pool
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| Firebug (Pyrrhocoris apterus) |
Before leaving, a Common Ringed Plover made an appearance
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| Common Ringed Plover (Charadrius hiaticula) |
After which a Collared Pratincole dropped in for a drink - so a pretty productive pool
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| Collared Pratincole (Glareola pratincola) |
I then headed to the marsh where I normally park and walk which flushed a Marsh Harrier I hadn't seen.
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| Western Marsh Harrier (Circus aeruginosus) |
I had a Sand Martin looking for a place to land and assumed it was just exhausted. However, looking at my images it seems to have a problem with it's eyes - not sure what though?
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| Sand Martin (Riparia riparia) |
A drive around the boundary of the farm produced a Woodchat Shrike
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| Woodchat Shrike (Lanius senator) |
and a Red-backed Shrike
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| Red-backed Shrike (Lanius collurio) |
I was really fortunate to see the silhouette of a Eurasian Nightjar in the Tamarix Trees along the boundary fence. I was far enough away that it didn't flush, so had some good views.
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| Eurasian Nightjar (Caprimulgus europaeus) |
A little further on another Red-backed Shrike
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| Red-backed Shrike (Lanius collurio) |
My last stop was at a grove of fruiting trees that had dropped it's fruit - I believe these are known locally as Knar. Nevertheless, the Blackcap's loved the ripe fruit
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| Eurasian Blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla) |
As did the White-cheeked Bulbul's and even the House and Spanish Sparrows. Actually it was quite comical, as there was some piracy in play. Spanish Sparrow stole a fruit from the Bulbul in a bold move and promptly lost his prize to a House Sparrow. It really had me smiling to myself as the antics played out..
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| Spanish Sparrow (Passer hispaniolensis) about to ambush the White-eared Bulbul (Pycnonotus leucotis) |
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| House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) and Spanish Sparrow (Passer hispaniolensis) |
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| Spanish Sparrow (Passer hispaniolensis) about to lose his fruit to the House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) |
A fun way to end the morning
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