A Bit of Nest Finding

Went out this afternoon to have a look at some birds on the edge of York.  Was very pleased to see that 3 Ringed Plover chicks I've been watching for the last few weeks have managed to survive the dogs/foxes/stoats/crows/sparrowhawk/kestrels etc. on the site and have fledged - a great result.  Just as pleasing was finding another pair that had 3 small chicks, estimated at being about 10 days old, topped further by the discovery of a nest containing two recently hatched chicks with a third bird stood just out of the nest.

Ringo Nest

1 of 3 Ringo Fledglings

Also present were 3 Oystercatcher that had successfully fledged from the same site a few weeks ago.

A fairly interesting discovery involved a pair of Pied Wagtail.  I found these birds nesting in a skip a month or so back, maybe 2 months.  They successfully fledged several young.  Then they had a second brood in the same nest.  Again they fledged several young.  I went back to check the nest this week to see if there were any dead young or if they'd gone for a third brood, but there was no sign and the nest was empty.  I decided to check out the rest of the skip, just in case, and to my surprise discovered another nest, complete with Pied Wagtail sat in it! Presumably the same pair having at least their third brood!

3rd brood Pied Wagtail

On Saturday I went for a local walk in between the rain showers, was nice to see lots of butterflies (Meadow Brown, Large Skipper, Red Admiral and Ringlet) and the odd big dragonfly too.  Got a Cuckoo, Green Woodpecker, Great Spotted Woodpecker and a few other bits and pieces, lots of warbler singing too including Garden Warbler, Blackcap, Common Whitethroat, Chiffchaff and Willow Warbler.