Saturday 31 October 2009

Waders and Seabirds in the Lagoon on Brownsea Island



We have just arrived home after a wonderful afternoon on Brownsea Island, the nature reserve in Poole Harbour . A warm, soft grey afternoon of calm waters, but a sky where storm clouds were gathering out to the west. Gales are forecast for tonight.



There are so many photographs from today, but here are just a few of the numerous birds, both resident and migrant, who were feeding in the sheltered lagoon in the late afternoon. The light was falling and birds were feeding or settling to rest on mudflats or on the still water. As well as the birds in the images below, we saw Shoveller Duck, Shellduck, Wigeon, Knot and Oystercatcher among those that we could recognise.



A Little Egret




A Greenshank watching the water for fish.


A pair of Redshank.






Brownsea Island has the largest flock of Avocets Britain. This graceful black and white wader is the bird used on the logo of the RSPB.






Cormorants, black back gulls and a grey heron among a mixed flock on the far mudflats.



Greenshank and Redshank together in the shallows.

3 comments:

Morning's Minion said...

I will have to come back to this tomorrow and bring the birds close up. We spent the day outdoors at a state park and I'm hoping the photos of hundreds of ducks will be clear enough that we can compare them to the bird book and identify.

Dartford Warbler said...

Looking forward to seeing your bird photos MM. The Brownsea birds were some distance away and my OH was experimenting with his camera`s long lens. My little powershot camera just managed little dots in the water!

Bovey Belle said...

I've never seen an Avocet in real life, so I am envious, nor a Little Egret either . . . I have happy memories of a picnic on Brownsea with my friend Gay and my children when they were small. Gay had packed a real feast, but we sat down to eat it a procession of Wood Ants decided they wanted to join in!