It suddenly dawned on me this morning that the River Exe which is under a mile from my house is a wonderful habitat for all kinds of wildlife. This morning being a week day with good bright weather as well, was very quiet. I went to see if I could get some better photos at the Sand Martin Colony. As you can see from the photo it is very picturesque. There are old willow trees and interesting bank sides with lots of wild flowers and sedges. The River is tidal and runs very shallow in places. It teems with Grey Mullet, some quite large and you can always see them grazing on the algae covered pebbles in the shallow clear edges. As I approached the River this morning I disturbed a Little Egret, and later on I saw a Common Sandpiper, probably the same one that I have seen before. It is now sporting it’s summer plumage. Not sure that it is a good enough photo to include here so I am not going to! There is a Reed Bunting that I have seen or heard every time I have been there this last wek. I am pretty sure it has a nest and I am pretty sure I know where it is but I dont want to disturb it so I havn’t looked. It is in the middle of the “meadow” amongst the sedges. I always see the male in the same place , right in the middle of the field. It is a good strategy because he can see all around him for predators. Concealment of the nest is their only escape though.
There is a Cormorant about very often and a Pied Wagtail also nesting near to the Martins. In the opposite wood a Song Thrush is singing constantly and this morning I also saw both Swallows and Swifts. On Saturday I briefly saw a Drgonfly species probably a Hairy Dragonfly but in spite of looking I havn’t seen it again.
I did get more good shots of the Martins this morning and in my camouflage shirt I was no more than 10 feet from the birds who were quite happy to carry on with their domestics regardless of my presence. But I will be keeping my distance for the time being as there is not a lot more that I can add to my photos at present and I really don’t want to disturb them too much. .