A Return to Middleton Lakes - 18th April, 2023

Having made a very enjoyable first visit to the RSPB Middleton Lakes Reserve on 23rd February, I'd been looking for an opportunity to return, but had been hampered by commitments and weather - there's virtually nowhere to shelter at Middleton Lakes! This dat, however, looked promising with a good chance of sunshine, although the winds were forecast to be rather strong. 

I set off at around 10.30, arriving at around 11.15. I'd been relying on the availability of loos at Middleton Hall, next to the RSPB car park, but found that Middleton Hall was well and truly closed. I spoke to another group of people in the car park to enquire about alternatives, only to find that they were in the same boat as myself. I will say no more, other than that ad-hoc arrangements were made by all.

I set off along the long trail which leads to the lakes and soon had the pleasure of spotting a Holly Blue butterfly.

Holly Blue (Celastrina argiolus) (male) - Middleton Lakes

Some way down the track is an area with what is described as a bird kitchen where this sign is displayed, and there are logs etc. placed where people can put seed for the birds. I stopped here briefly but only photographed a Great Tit.

Great Tit (Parus major) - Middleton Lakes

By Pooh Stick Bridge, a birder coming the other way alerted me to a male Blackcap ahead. I found it almost immediately as it was continually singing loudly. Getting a photograph, however, was another matter entirely. Although it was probably less than ten metres away it was mostly obscured by intervening branches in a darlk place against a biright sky. This is the best that I could manage in the possibly five minutes before it departed.

Blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla) (male) - Middleton Lakes

Where people had put bird seed on the parapet of Fishers Mill Bridge, a Chaffinch was having its lunch. This one had a bad case of scaly legs - a common condition caused by  Fringilla papillomavirus. This condition can lead to lameness and loss of digits or worse.

Chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs) (male) - Middleton Lakes

I arrived at Fishers Mill Pool to find an even more disturbing sight - a small island covered with dead and dying birds. As far as I could tell, these were all Black-headed Gull. Avian Flu was taking a terrible toll here. A section of this island is depicted below - it was only visible through the reeds in front.

Carnage at Middleton Lakes

There was, however, the uplifting sound of a booming Bittern.

From the west side of Jubilee Wetlands, a few Canada Geese were in a meadow amongst some white flower, of which I have no idea of their identity.

Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) - Middleton Lakes

I had a rather unsuccesful attempt to photograph a passing Cormorant.

Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo) - Middleton Lakes

Shortly after this, I got into conversation with a gentleman and his wife. He had bought the same camera body as me at about the same time. I picked up some useful tips from him and immediately applied these to my camera. I was then delighted when I managed to get a difficult shot of a near and low-flying swan, into the light and against a cluttered background. The result was not the best of shots, convinced me that the new setting was an improvement.

Mute Swan (Cygnus olor) (immature) - Middleton Lakes

I had been seeing a few Orange Tip butterflies but, because of the strong wind, not managed to find one that settled. My luck changed on a sheltered patch beside the path that runs between Jubilee Wetlands North and North Pool.

Orange-tip (Anthocharis cardamines) (male) - Middleton Lakes

Turning towards The Lookout, a pair Of Great Crested Grebe were in the water to the right of the path.

Great Crested Grebe (Podiceps cristatus) - Middleton Lakes

I spent a short while in The Lookout, where there were plenty of birds visible, but mainly common fare and mainly at an unphotographable distance. I did photograph a pair of Gadwall from here, however.

Gadwall (Mareca strepera) (female) - Middleton Lakes

Gadwall (Mareca strepera) (male) - Middleton Lakes

Leaving The Lookout, one of the grebes was in a better position for photography.

Great Crested Grebe (Podiceps cristatus) - Middleton Lakes

Heading down the east side of Jubilee Wetlands, adjacent to the River Thame, I found that it was much more sheltered from the wind here and a few butterflies were around. There were numerous Orange-tips - nearly all male.

Orange-tip (Anthocharis cardamines) (male) - Middleton Lakes

There were also a few Speckled Wood around.

Speckled Wood (Pararge aegeria) - Middleton Lakes

I only saw one Peacock butterfly and this was holding a territory, having frequent skirmishes with intruding Orange-tips! 

Peacock (Aglais io) - Middleton Lakes

I then took the east-west path that runs between Jubilee Wetlands and Fishers Mill Pool. At the first blind, I sat and rested a while. Attempts to photograph gulls didn't amount to much. Here are a couple of shots.

Black-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus - Middleton Lakes

Herring Gull (Larus argentatus) - Middleton Lakes

 I tried to get some shots of a rather distant Lapwing, but couldn't do better than this (heavily cropped).

Lapwing (Vanellus vanellus) - Middleton Lakes

For whatever reason, I suddenly felt tempted to try the video facility on the Canon. It is a far more simple process on the Canon, than it was on the Nikon, which is why I never used it on the Nikon. I'm quite pleased with the results which were hand-held in a stiff wind - as you can hear if you have the sound up on your device.

I also took a few shots of a drake Shoveler.

Shoveler (Spatula clypeata) (male) - Middleton Lakes

Sufficiently rested, I headed eastward and stopped for a Coot.

 

Coot (Fulica atra) - Midleton Lakes

The real treat of the day came a little further along the path when a very loud song alerted me to the presence of a Sedge Warbler. I had not seen this species for several years, so was delighted when it briefly flew into the top of a bush close to me.

Sedge Warbler (Acrocephalus schoenobaenus) - Middleton Lakes

Before leaving this path I got a record shot of a female Orange-tip (the one without the orange tips to the wings).

Orange-tip (Anthocharis cardamines) (female) - Middleton Lakes

Before reaching Fishers Mill Bridge, I was again struck by the volume of sound from the gulls on Fishers Mill Pool although the booming Bittern could be heard above the racket but, sadly, not in this clip.

At Fishers Mill Bridge, I was quite surprised, and amused, to find a drake Mallard on the bridge parapet, after the bird seed that had been placed on it.

 

Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) (male) - Middleton Lakes

Nothing of great interest was seen on the long walk back to the car park.

It had been a most enjoyable experience, in spite of the cold wind, and I look forward to returning. I am keen to know what the dragonfly/damselfly situation is here.

My next blog post will, as usual, probably be in about a week's time. In the meantime, please take good care of yourselves and Nature.

Thank you for dropping by - - - Richard