Fledglings and Hides This summer I thought I would shift my backside and construct some hides down on the marsh before the Autumn migration got underway.Not that I have'nt attempted to make any before.There was the hide I made last winter from some camo -netting I bought from Granny Trout in Kentucky, off Ebay.Then there was the hide made up of boulders and fig tree branches down at the deserted village to watch the Nuthatch family. But this time I thought I would try and make something a bit more permanent and static so that the birds would get used to seeing it there all the time and not get spooked.Well that was the thinking anyway.So after acquiring some bamboo fencing -panels and some 'Rebar' that they use here for reinforcing the concrete in house -construction. I was also lucky enough to get a lot of phone -cable as the telephone company here have been upgrading their system to EU standards. That was all I needed ,and with some help from my mate Dave we managed to have enough material to construct three hides.Along with a couple of discarded patio -chairs all was complete for some comfy birding out of the sun and hopefully some good photographs.  New hide in position near feeding ground  Tranquil scene at sunrise before setting up my gear in the hide
So it was 6 o'clock on the first morning of watching from my new hide and the first birds you could not fail to be aware of were the 50 or so very noisy Black -winged stilt parents dive bombing me as I walked through the corn to get to the hide.Once inside, everything calmed -down and as I got my first drink from my semi -frozen water -bottle as it was about 85f already.I noticed something moving in the reed -bed and after some time they emerged ;a family of stilts very warily feeding on the insects.These little ones were no more than a few days old.  Juvenile Black winged stilt
Over the next couple of hours juveniles of several species put in an appearance . There were the Kentish plover,Red-crested pochard,Lapwing and Avocet .
Juvenile Avocet Juvenile Kentish plover(days old)
Juvenile Lapwing Juvenile Red crested pochard  A family of Ruddy Shelduck,there were 11 ducklings altogether in this particular brood,10 of which did fledge ;I am not certain what happened to the 11th duckling but there was a harrier on the marsh during that period.
A Kentish plover with six legs !!!! No just mum hiding her babies A family of Ruddy Shelduck,there were 11 ducklings altogether in this particular brood,10 of which did fledge ;I am not certain what happened to the 11th duckling but there was a harrier on the marsh during that period. Just to let you compare the baby Black -winged stilt at a few days old to another shot at six weeks old,see the picture below  Juvenile Black winged stilt at about 6 weeks old
Well that was another really good morning in my new hide and since then the birds have accepted the hides.In fact the last time I went down the marsh I had Cretzschmars bunting and wheatears actually sitting on the roof of the hide not more than 18 inches above my head.They were preening themselves in the sun,now thats what you call closeup birding. And here's the biggest baby of them all catching 40 winks in the midday sunshine,a juvenile Black stork 
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