Needs Ore NR

On Saturday 6th October my Dad and I went down to Needs Ore NR as we had just renewed our permit. First stop was the Blackwater Hide but before you get there you have to walk across a field with lots of bushes and a few pools. The bushes held no more then a few robins and Finches but the fences held lots and lots of stonechats. As we aprroached the hide we flushed a Green Sandpiper from the pool and a wheatear flew up from the grass, in the hide there was plenty of birds especially wildfowl. Birds of note were 7+ Pintail, Tufted Duck, lots of Teal, Mallards, 2-3 Little Grebes and a few shoveler mixed in with hundreds of Wigeon.

Pintail taken from the Blackwater Hide

Next we went to the Estuaire de L'Orne Hide which is normally the best as it is looking out over the estuary along with the pool itself. Here we had 2 Greenshanks which briefly landed really close to the hide, a couple of Black-Tailed Godwits flew up from behind the Island along with a Green Sandpiper and a few Redshank. Also there was lots of Lapwings which got flushed by a Merlin which darted through and headed of towards the point, a Kestrel hunted and 2 Little egrets flew around continuously.

Greenshank that showed well from the Estuaire de L'Orne Hide

Greenshank taken at Needs Ore NR

Greenshank taken at Needs Ore NR

Pheasant taken from the Estuaire de L'Orne Hide

After this we decided to take a walk back to the car and then drive up to the point in search of the Merlin went that way. On the way back we had nothing more than we did the first time until we found a Whinchat along the fence with some Stonechats.

When we arrived at the point there was nothing to see until we found a Buzzard sat on the shingle, a closer inspection then revealed the Merlin distantly sat on a Post. After having a drink we walked to the end of the point and again we found the Merlin but this time sat on top of the hide which was soon spooked by a person fixing a boat and the a second Merlin joined the other one and we lost them to view. The only other things of note at the point were some Greenshank, Curlews and 2 Wheatears.

Pheasant taken in flight from the Point

Wheatear taken at Needs Ore NR at the Point

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