A VISIT TO THE LYNDON RESERVE AND COSSINGTON MEADOWS.

As it was my turn to drive, we decided to visit some of the Little Owl sites on our outward journey but mainly to head for the Lyndon Centre and have a trip around the Hides without the Ospreys being on site and tending to take all the attention. On our outbound journey we saw a Little Owl at Site No. 6, sat on its usual R.S.J. 

We arrived at Lyndon to find only one car in the car park and headed for Teal Hide, where not much was seen and so then headed down towards Waderscrape calling at all the Hides on the way down but mainly looking for Dragonflies as we are getting towards the end of the season.

Calling in at Deep Water Hide and again seeing very little we carried on down to Tufted Duck Hide and again we only saw a few Mallard, however in the area of the hide we had a concentration of Hawker Dragonflies in an  area that was shielded from the wind that was starting to blow a bit harder so we spent some time getting a few images and then headed for Waderscrape Hide, this is open again after all the screens and computers have been returned back to the centre until we commence duties next Spring with the return of the Ospreys. We met up with a gent in the hide who had spotted Green Sandpipers and other birds but on the other side of the bay using his scope so we headed for our favourite hide, Shallow Water and again looking for Dragonflies on our way down.

We were the only visitors in the Hide and though we saw nothing unusual managed some images of a few birds, and after about an hour in the Hide we headed back towards the car park for a trip around our Little Owl sites. We soon got underway and eventually saw a bird in the nesthole at Site 9. The following day Richards phoned me to say when looking at his images he had found we had another bird behind the bird in the entrance, so we finished up with a three owl day.

Richard and myself talked again on Monday the 10th morning and he asked if I had been out, he had been out owling on the Sunday. I said I was hoping to get out in the afternoon and visit Cossington Meadows as a Glossy Ibis was on site and was reported as being on Swan Meadows, this is where the Short Eared Owls were last Winter. Richard phoned me at about 12.30 hrs to say he had just arrived at Cossington and I said I would be with him as soon as possible, I still had some shopping to do. I arrived at about 14.00 hrs and walked reasonably quickly down the site but no sign of the Ibis or Richard at Swan Meadow so I carried on down the site and eventually found him with some people between Tern and Upper Marsh Pools, here they has seen some Jack Snipe through the Gents scope, very difficult to find with the bins. As we had both seen a reasonable number of Dragonflies in the area but no sign of the illusive Ibis, we had a couple of hours with the Dragons.  After this we walked back to the cars and Richard was on his way whilst I took my boots of when suddenly the gent who took the photo of me with the Robin in my hand eating the biscuit turned up. Asked what I had come for and told me he had been getting images of the Glossy Ibis in Swan Meadow, it was apparently out in the middle of the field and he had gone out after it, this is something we wouldn't have done in any case even if we had seen  the bird.    

The Header is an image I took last year at a small Lake near Heather of an Emperor Dragonfly, and have been trying to replicate it through the Summer but have not got any flying images so far, the Dragons if flying are flying away from us, not alongside us.

LYNDON CENTRE.
6th October.

Migrant Hawker, Male, Outside Tufted Duck Hide.

We saw a couple walking back towards the Car Park who said they had seen Dragonflies by Tufted Hide. We spent a reasonable amount of time trying for the images and waiting for them to land. Small amount of damage to its wing. 

Migrant Hawker, Male, Near Tufted Duck Hide.

This one appears to have perfect wings.  

Migrant Hawker, Male, Near Waderscrape Hide.

This one has an enormous section of wing missing but flew away perfectly. Imagine what it would be like to be on a plane with going on for 15% of its wing missing.????  

White Lipped Snail, Near Shallow Water Hide.

Different coloured shell to last weeks. 

Tufted Duck, Teal Hide.

Not so many of these ducks in this section of the South Arm of the Reservoir as on the Lagoons at Egleton. 

Greylag Goose, Shallow Water Hide.

Lovely goose enjoying the ooze to the front of the hide, the water level in Manton Bay is really low at the moment but soon fill up in the Winter. 

Redshank, Shallow Water Hide.

Just in the shallows out in the bay, we decided that you could probably walk across the bay with a pair of wellies on, but we then remembered the stream course in the middle.!!!

Cormorant on the Osprey Nest. Shallow Water Hide.

Have put the cameras on a few times during the day and in the evening, Cormorants on the nest most of the time. During the day a pair of Egyptian Geese are sometimes in residence.  

Black Headed Gull, Shallow Water Hide.

Not sure as to what it was collecting. A shot of approx 75 metres.

Not sure as to what the bird is doing in this image. 

Lapwing, Shallow Water Hide.

This bird was feeding in the waters edge. Not as many at Lyndon  as at Egleton. 

Another that ventured out of the water and up towards the hide but still not that close. 

The bird then flew, I think this is a male due to the round end to the wing. 
Not my best effort unfortunately. 

Hebridean Sheep.

These are the sheep I had previously got the breed wrong. After checking with Sarah at the Volunteer Centre she tells me they are Hebrideans.

Opposite to the Normal,

the "WHITE" sheep of the family. 
This is a small flock just below the Lyndon Centre all very interested in us. 



Thank you Sarah for the Breed.

LITTLE OWLS.

Little Owl Site No. 6.

We saw this bird on our outward journey, nice to see its returned to what we think is its Winter quarters. We are sure it Over Winters with the cows in the Barn, nice and warm on a cold Winters night sat above the cattle. 

Little Owl Site No.9.

We sat and had half our tea at this site, Richard on one of his images could see a second bird behind the bird to the front. Very difficult with the sun as it is and it had also become very windy.

COSSINGTON MEADOWS.

10th October.

Common Darter Dragonfly.

Both Darters and Hawkers were around in reasonable numbers.

Red Admiral Butterfly.

This year even though they seem late, all the ones we are seeing are in beautiful condition. 

This one was with several other on some pipes that had been put at the side of a ditch.

Common Darter.

This one on one of the direction signs around the reserve.

Cropped version of the above.

This on a log seat down by the River Soar.

Grey Heron, Tern Pool.

A rather long distance image of the bird sitting on a post in the pool having a good old scratch.

Thank you for your visit, I hope you have enjoyed them as much as I did in the getting of them.