March 2012 - Hatfield Moors (south)

Thursday 29th: Another warm and sunny Thursday. I took myself up to Hatfield Moors from work in search of Grebes. Only saw a couple of Great Crested Grebes. But there was still plenty to keep my interested. The Skylarks in the field behind me were continually singing as they rose vertically up into the sky and they slowly fluttered down. Swallows and Sand Martins were zig-zagging in the sky over the lake and they plummeting down in pursuit of some microscopic insect. Yes it looks like Spring is here!

What interested me more was the two Lesser Black-backed Gulls in the distance with an egg. Not in itself unusual, though it is the first time I have seen Lesser Black-backed Gulls at Boston Park Lake, no it was the fact that they appeared to be prodding it and were getting some near-aggressive attention from a pair of Oystercatchers! Eventually the Lessers must've got bored because 20 minutes later they flew off leaving the Oystercatchers to prod the egg. The egg didn't belong to either the Oystercatchers or the Lesser Black-backed Gulls. It was more likely that of a Greylag Goose.

Lapwing.

Canada Geese and Greylag Geese.

Canada Geese pair splash landing.

Greylag Goose

Pied Wagtails