Sunday 26 February 2012

The mighty clay pits

The main pool at the Clay Pits, pretending to be a Scottish Lochan
A walk into Swanton Great Wood with Ness this morning was very pleasant – it really is feeling like spring is moments away. The Bluebells are already showing the first signs of green, Primrose is flowering in several spots and the woods are at that empty and open time where all last years growth has now died back and the ground is exposed ready for the explosion of growth in the coming months. Birds are getting ready for spring too with noisy antics as rival males chase females around the woods.

We had a pleasant encounter with 4 Roe Deer crossing Wood Lane beyond the Clay Pits – they could clearly hear us but not see us properly so they stood motionless for a long time before realising we weren’t a threat and carried on wandering through the woods.

Talking of the Clay Pits…4 small ducks came off the main pool as we approached. I was ready for them this time and couldn’t believe my eyes as I focused the bins on them. 2 pair of Teal!

Teal. Not a species I had even thought possible on the patch. But there they were and that will be species 63 for the year and 84 overall.
-!-
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4 comments:

  1. Si27 February 2012 at 08:43

    So presumably the small ducks you had last week ? I think I need the plain to flood before I get Teal :-( I am trying to get some "Patch Pics" today , so expect some boring blog entries later ;-)

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  2. Rusticolus27 February 2012 at 09:02

    Yeah, I guess they were...although I was sure I saw a pale trailing edge on the secondaries rather than a panel.

    Look forward to seeing pics of your patch :)

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  3. Rob Hill27 February 2012 at 09:30

    I love Teal, any random damp patch and they're in, whether it's a tiny pond in the middle of a wood, or a ditch at the edge of a field. Obviously flooded grassland next to a housing estate doesn't fit the bill though :-)

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  4. Si27 February 2012 at 20:07

    git ;-) Maybe one day ..... the first set of pics are up !

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