Quailess

Monday 12th July 2010

Had a few things to sort out in Sutton but found time to pop in to Kingsbury W.P. It was almost quiet with most of the Black headed gulls having dispersed. A couple of Common Terns were floating about over the pools but little else. There were 2 Common Sandpipers at the back of Cliff pools and a Kingfisher flew across the back of the pool. As I walked to Sita hide 3 Little Egrets flew over towards Middleton but there was no sign of them at Middleton Lake shortly afterwards, although there were 3 Green Sandpipers feeding on the exposed mud. On the way back from Sutton I had a mouch around Blind pit Lane near Wishaw. There had been a report of a Quail singing but I heard nothing, although with a blustery wind, conditions weren't ideal. I did see 4 juvenile Yellow Wagtails, a Grey Partridge and a few Skylark though.

On a different tack I read with interest the simmering debate on the Surfbirds Forum on the annual occurence of Siberian 'tristris' Chiffchaffs in the UK. I have been surprised that contributers have not mentioned differences in calls. I was brought up to believe that this was the only reliable criteria for identification in the field. Either this has been discredited or we have become solely reliant on photographs these days. Just a thought.