Swifts and Spoonbills at Tophill Low

A cool day with almost constant light rain or drizzle, I decided to have a trip to Tophill Low. My last trip there was at the end of March, and the reserve has changed a lot in the meantime. The first surprise on arrival was the large numbers of Swifts over the car park quietly feeding over the trees and the water on D res. Other than that the reservoir is devoid of birds, just a pair of Mute Swans in it. I decide to head south towards South Marsh first. The pond by the visitor centre looks and sounds amazing: a carpet of Water Violets flowering with a chorus of Marsh Frogs.

Water violets.

Reception centre pond.

Marsh Frog calling, my best shot ever of a calling one!

I stop at North Lagoon and there, the chorus of frogs is even louder. There are fights, veering for prime position in the middle of the pond.

 On the wall of O-res, there are wagtails. Pied and Yellow, both with bills full of insects. 

Female Yellow Wagtail on the wall of O res, holding what looks like a bunch of damselfly nymphs for her chicks

A male Yellow Wagtail stops its wagging walk for a few moments, calling.

  The verges by the reservoir are looking stunning. I've never seen so many Bee Orchids.

Bee Orchid

The following are several other orchids from around the reservoir and the path to Watton. I'm still learning about orchids and I know they are not easy as there are many hybrids. Still, the diversity of colours and shapes is fascinating.

I stop at South Marsh. There are two slumbering Spoonbills, a site tick for me. I look for Garganeys...

My heart jumps when I think I had spotted the drake Garganey. No, it was just a sleeping Black-headed gull.

Spoonbills

The spoonbills start to wake up. One of them preens and scratches and then starts fishing.

 Both are juveniles, probably one year olds, with a pinkish bill tip and lacking the crest and bare yellow chin and golden chest patch of breeding adults. They look goofy and so much fun to watch!

 The young spoonbill starts picking up sticks, just manipulating them with its bill and letting them fall in the water again. A playful, nest building behaviour?

 There are five Little Egrets at some point. One of the Little Egrets catches a fish with a quick dart of its neck.

 But I keep going back to the Spoonbills, trying to get a shot showing what they are feeding on. This one is a tiny fish.

 The other Spoonbill wakes up. If flies to the first one and they have a little skirmish before setting up in a line to feed.

 Spoonbills have a fascinating way of feeding using their unusual spatula-shaped bills. They submerge their bill and, keeping it open, they move it side to side steadily and quite rapidly under shallow water, all the while steadily moving forward on their long, sturdy legs. The bill is very sensitive to touch and can detect small swimming animals such as invertebrates, or tadpoles, newts and small fish. As soon as a prey item touches the bill, there is a quick snap reflex and the bill closes. Every few seconds, they seem to catch something, they lift their bill and throw their catch in the air in order to swallow it.

Starting a feeding session.

Another stickleback bites the dust.

***

A Kingfisher flies past, settling on the new bank by the photographic hide.

It has been raining lightly and steadily, but it appears to ease a bit and I move on. I first go to Watton, where there's not much to report, and then quickly trundle on the wet grass path around the reservoir to have lunch in the reception centre.

Swift vortex

The swirling swifts are in full swing right in front of the reception centre window. They are mesmerising to watch, and we do as we eat our sandwiches. I'm not very good counting birds, but surely, there must have been thousands. They seem to be mainly concentrated in the north of the D reservoir. But what are they doing, and where are they here, flying in the rain? As on cue, Richard Hampshire, the Tophill Low warden turns up and tells us of the mass emergence of non-biting midges (also called chironomids) the night before, when a visitor reported humming, so many there were. The larvae are aquatic, and they pupate on the water surface before emerging as adults and flying off. Adults, which look superficially like a mosquito, emerge from the reservoir and mate in huge swarms. Fortunately for us they don't bite, and adults may feed on nectar or honeydew. If they are lucky they will mate and lay eggs before being eaten by a swift or a wagtail or falling on a spider web! I took a photo of this one on the wall of one of the hides later in the afternoon.

Swift food: Male non-biting midge

 As I walk later towards Hempholme meadows, on the faint hope that a Cattle Egret has returned, I watch the swifts and take some photos that, due to the grey light, makes no justice to the spectacle. As I look back I realise that the densest concentration of swifts is now just over the hide! (photo above), so many that they look like a cloud of mosquitoes.


via GIPHY
Looking harder, I spot some sand martins, house martin and a swallow around, but,mainly there are swifts.

Unfortunately, there was no Cattle Egret. Just a nervous Lapwing, that spends much time chasing three crows. Ah, and the chorus of Marsh Frogs.

Not a bad way to spend a rainy day.