Nests a plenty on the flashes

I had a kayak on the flashes today and noticed a variety of nests on the water from a Grebes nest in the reed beds to a Moorhens nest on the edge of the reed beds in the shallows made from reeds and plastic that the birds must have found floating around the flashes.
I also put another nesting raft on the flashes and this time I filled it with straw to finish off the nest to rent I will keep and eye on the tyre to see if any of the water birds decide to use as I can see from the bank so if I do not kayak there on a day I will pop by with my binoculars to see if any bird have taken up the free accommodation.

I paddled past the green raft and there was signs of usage as they was a few large white specs of duck poo on the raft so they must be using to sleep on. I also noticed as I kayaked along the edges of the reed beds that under the surface large fish unsure of species were knocking into the submerged reeds which can be very unnerving when you don't expect when your moored up and camouflaged waiting for the water birds to come close.

One surprise from the day was a Male Stonechat feeding on flies that were buzzing around the reed beds but as my camera lens was acting up I only got a few far shots of the bird on the top of the reeds but this is a new bird here and I have only ever filmed them by the sea in the sand dunes it was a welcome sight on the flashes anyway I do not think it was will stay around to breed as its possibly on its way to the coast to begin the breeding season and hopefully I can catch up with the bird before it leaves.

One funny thing but not at the time that happend was that I ended up putting my paddle in the water to read an email on my Iphone and then when I looked up realised that I was a few metres away from it I tried using my hands to get closer no luck but luckily in my bag I had a white stool that did the job and got me back to the paddle.

More updates on the nests soon and hopefully fingers crossed I can get my cameras in without disturbing the water birds for some close up nesting footage.


Thanks for reading

Mike