Egrets, Terns and Sandpipers

This week at Blenheim has seen a lot more activity from the Cattle Egrets, with at least 8 birds present at various times including a mix of adult and juvenile birds. The numbers here appear to coincide with the larger numbers now being seen at Otmoor and Standlake.

The Common Tern young are now capable of flight and have been using the platforms used for the dredging work as a convenient place to roost before moving off once the work commences at 7am. The adults are quick to mob anyone who walks anywhere near where the young might be. 2 of the original 3 young have survived to fledge which is a great success considering how vulnerable they were on the nest.

It has been nice to see the return of Common Sandpipers to Blenheim, with at least 5 present at times of the past couple of weeks. There have been far more in both spring and now autumn migration than last year.