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Black-crowned night herons breed in Somerset!
Recently, I was reading the Birdwatch magazine I get every month, something caught my attention; there was an article saying that some black-crowned night herons have bred in Somerset!!! This is the first record of them breeding in the UK, and they even fledged young (I’m not sure if the weather was much cop, because it deterred other rare breeding birds such as the bee-eaters in Nottingham, which weren’t successful). They were at a site near Graham Hall.
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2nd September 2017
Road towards Fort William 136. Golden eagle
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1st September 2017
Mora beach 135. Greenshank
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31st of August 2017
Rhu peninsula 134. Rock pipit
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29th August 2017
Arisaig beach 132. Eider 133. Twite
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28th August 2017
Arisaig beach 127. Ringed plover 128. Sanderling (Brand New Species) 129. Whinchat (Brand New Species) 130. Black-tailed godwit Rhu peninsula 131. Whimbrel (Brand New Species)
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26th August 2017
Boat trip to Eigg and Muck from Arisaig 121. Shag 122. Kittiwake 123. Great skua (Brand new species) 124. Manx shearwater 125. Gannet 126. Wheatear
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25th August 2017
Morar 119. White-tailed eagle 120. Common gull
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24th August 2017
Arisaig village 118. Hooded crow
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23rd August 2017
Loch of Lowes 116. Siskin 117. Scaup
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22nd August 2017
Argaty red kite feeding station 115. Red kite
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19th August 2017
Birdfair, ringing demonstration 114. Sedge warbler
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18th August 2017
Lyndon Nature Reserve, Rutland 111. Osprey 112. Cetti’s warbler 113. Great white egret
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The woodland close to home, in black pencil and gouache. The river is seasonal, and in the winter there are dippers, mandarins and sometimes grey wagtails.
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Water rail
For my birthday, I acquired a new item in my collection, a taxidermy water rail. It if from the same person who did my painted snipe and azure-winged magpie. I first saw a water rail this year at Attenborough Nature Reserve, and was very lucky too, as they are one of the most elusive birds in the UK. They are related to corncrakes, and birds such as the little or baillon’s crakes, which are occasional visitors to the UK, the corncrake being resident but very rare. Water rails are dumpy waders, with long beaks and legs, and a short, buff-coloured tail. Part of their underbellies are barred black and white, the…
