Foxy

Saturday afternoon was spent at Klydesøen, the wetland area at the southern tip of Amager. There are two observation hides on site (a relic of the time when the whole area was a military training ground and the towers were used for assessing the impact of artillery explosions!). Whatever the history, the towers provide a great vista of the shallow lagoons, albeit from a distance. This is where the 20-60x zoom eyepiece on my telescope comes in handy....

Highlight was an adult CASPIAN TERN that spent over an hour patrolling the lagoons and loafing on one of the small islands. A pair or two breed on the nearby island of Saltholm (between Denmark and Sweden), so this bird is almost certainly one of those and has been ranging the local area for a couple of weeks. There was also a good selection of waders on site - I counted 24 Wood Sandpiper, 3 Bar-tailed Godwit, 2 Black-tailed Godwit, 2 Curlew Sandpiper, an Avocet, 5 Spotted Redshank, 3 Greenshank, 14 Ringed Plover, a Redshank, 2 Whimbrel, 8 Curlew, a Green Sandpiper, 10 Ruff, 7 Oystercatcher, 5 Dunlin and a Snipe. Also present were Water Rail, Little Tern, Sandwich Tern and a family party of 4 Raven.

A young FOX made its way along the path by the tower and made several unsuccessful attempts to pounce on small rodents before disappearing into the long grass.

Apparently, just 5 minutes after I left, 3 Broad-billed Sandpipers flew in and began feeding close to the main observation tower - hopefully they will hang around...

As I write, England are enjoying the upper hand in the second Ashes Test Match at Lord's. England talisman, Freddie Flintoff. has just taken the first two wickets in Australia's second innings with Australia still 484 runs behind. Both wickets were, apparently, not out - the first should have been a no-ball and there is doubt that the ball carried to Strauss at slip for the second. Will England lose any sleep about that? I doubt it...

Photos: Red Fox