Maple Cross Birding: July 2017

Thursday 13 July 2017

Late afternoon at Springwell Lake

At the south end of the lake the two remaining juvenile Common Goldeneye were showing well.

Along the river side of the lake a pair of Cetti's Warbler were observed with two recently fledged young.

Friday 7 July 2017

Little Ringed Plover at Ruislip Lido

A late morning visit to Ruislip Lido in very hot, sunny conditions provided an unexpected migrant in the the form of a Little Ringed Plover. It was present along the waters edge below the boat house probing for invertebrates. I say unexpected due to the fact there was a high level of disturbance going on at the time with dog walkers and family parties busily enjoying the sunshine. I approached with caution and managed to take a few decent shots before leaving the bird to continue feeding. Other species of interest included a pair of Common Tern present with a late brood of young on the floating platform opposite the pub while House Martin, Swallow and Common Swift buzzed overhead hunting insects.

Wednesday 5 July 2017

Mauritius June 20th - 30th 2017

A ten day visit to the island of Mauritius with my better half produced an opportunity of seeing some endemic species as well as plenty of relaxation. We stayed at the Sugar Beach Golf & Spa Resort located on the south west coast which is ideally suited for many of the tourist sites and nature reserves. The weather was hot with light showers of rain present on a couple of occasions and these were mostly during the night, not bad considering it's the winter time in this part of the world. Most of my birding activities took place around the hotel grounds and beach area and there was a large freshwater pond behind our accommodation. This held a small waterfowl collection consisting of a single Pink-backed Pelican, three Black Swan and four Greater Flamingo. A small feral population of White-faced Whistling Duck and Egyptian Goose favoured this site too and were seen flying around the area on several occasions. Perhaps these birds were once part of the collection but have now found their freedom and have started to breed. Sadly many of the common species seen on the island are of captive origin or have been introduced with the only common endemic being the Mauritius Grey White-eye which favours parks and gardens. We did venture out to the south east of the island visiting Ill Aux Aigrettes Nature Reserve which is a very small island where endemics such as Pink Pigeon, Mauritius Fody and Mauritius Olive White-eye are protected and monitored. Below are some photos of many of the species I encountered.