YOC trip to Potteric Carr 9th June
We met at YWT Potteric Carr Nature Reserve just before 9am to find that the road in front of the reserve was closed from 9am to 2pm due to a marathon. This meant that we had a very pleasant day with the reserve almost to ourselves — no kids screaming, no hides full of people glued to their seats!
It was nice to see and hear the chicks and juveniles of several species,
including lapwings, oystercatchers, pochards, little grebes, whitethroats,
blackcaps (photo of 5 juveniles attached, can you see all the heads?), blue and
great tits, goldfinches, black-headed gulls (photo attached), and others. We had
good views of a juvenile great spotted woodpecker.
Other highlights were a yellow-legged gull, 3 hobbies flying around at one
time, 3 little ringed plovers, lots of pochards (at least 50 males + females and
a few young), avocets, a brief view of a bittern flying into the reeds.
The total list for the day is 64 species, with 8 species of warblers and 5
species of gulls.
Best wishes, Emanuela