Continental Cousins 4th April 2019

I took a trip to Farmoor Reservoir this lunchtime, reasoning that the foul weather conditions would bring down a lot of hirundines to feed low over the waters of the reservoir.

The weather conditions were bad enough in the car park with a strong wind and driving rain hammering on the car windscreen but on getting out of the car and walking up the slope to the open unsheltered expanses of the two reservoir basins the weather took on biblical proportions of foulness.

It was truly awful and I was almost of a mind to give up. However, having gone to all this trouble, it went against my spirit to turn tail and run.

Head down into the wind and rain I made for the shelter of the yacht club where I could stand out of the wind in the lee of the building and scope the reservoir. Needless to say I had the whole reservoir to myself, not another birder or fisherman had braved the tumultuous elements

I think it fair to say that I have rarely seen such a sight as was before me.There were thousands of hirundines spread as far and as wide as you could see across Farmoor Two, the larger of the two basins.  A veritable all moving carpet of flickering, fast moving,sharp winged silhouettes were flying just above the waves, covering every inch of the reservoir.

The majority were Sand Martins. It was impossible to count every one but there were in the region of four to five thousand, passing back and forth in swathes. Amongst them were smaller numbers of Swallows, maybe a hundred or so, appearing darker, larger and with a slightly more languid flight action and the occasional flash of white betrayed a House Martin, these very much in the minority with only about twenty present, sweeping above and through their more numerous cohorts.

Fortune favours the brave and I decided to make a foray to the birdwatching hide positioned halfway up the causeway, my reasoning being it would give me closer and easier viewing of this hirundine spectacular and from the relative comfort of the dry, wind free hide's interior. Venturing out from my sheltered position by the yacht club and setting off up the causeway I  began to wonder why, as I was subjected to a severe battering from both wind and rain. It was dreadful, a trial of will but I had set myself  a goal and duly got a thoroughly good soaking for my stubborness 

Making it to the hide I gratefully opened the door and went inside. Here at last was a sanctuary from the elements. I sat for a few minutes, dripping and thoroughly discomfited but then got my telescope erected and scanned the hirundines once more from the interior of the hide.

Looking out I became aware of a number of  Pied Wagtails, a common resident here, sheltering in the lee of the wind under the overhanging perimeter wall of Farmoor One, the smaller reservoir overlooked by the hide. They were sheltering under the lip of the retaining wall that runs each side of the perimeter track, protected from the worst of the wind where the concrete ran down to the water and it was relatively calm and insects could gather.

At this time of year I look forward to the annual arrival at Farmoor of small numbers of migrant White Wagtails, the continental version of our native Pied Wagtail. Sure enough the first wagtail I looked at was a pristine male White Wagtail huddled under the lip of the wall, using a nettle patch to protect it further from the weather. Compared to our Pied Wagtail they look much more dapper as their upper parts are a light shade of pure grey and the combination of pale grey, white and black plumage on whatever bird it adorns always looks ultra chic.

Scanning along under  the wall I found no less than six, all sheltering from the wind and rain and using the protection of the wall to go about their business, every so often venturing out to chase the myriad of hatching insects on the concrete.

The Pied Wagtails looked scruffy and less well manicured in comparison to these visitors. Female Pied Wagtails, which have variable grey upperparts, can sometimes be confused with duller White Wagtails but usually they show some black feathers in their grey upperparts and the grey is always darker and less pure in tone. Their flanks are also prominently smudged with dark grey and if you can see it the rump is black whereas in a White Wagtail it is grey.

A female Pied Wagtail showing the darker grey upperparts with black patches
mixed in and smudged grey flanks. Compare this with the images below of a
White Wagtail with pure light grey upperparts and paler grey smudging virtually
non existent on the flanks

Also of interest was that all six White Wagtails were males and despite the wind and rain and the fact they were miles from their final destination they appeared to have set up their own separate territories along the mossy wavewall and would chase off any of their fellow White Wagtails that they felt had encroached on their patch.

I watched as the White Wagtails continued seeking sanctuary under the wall but one braved the rain and put it to use by preening vigorously in the open, using the rain as a make shift shower.

White Wagtails breed throughout much of Europe apart from the British Isles, being found south to Spain, Portugal and the Mediterranean, north to Iceland and east to Asia, with northerly populations migrating to north and tropical Africa. I found myself wondering where these half dozen individuals braving the wind and rain had come from.

I was putting off the dread moment when I would have to foresake the hide and run the gauntlet of the exposed causeway but it had to be done. I was cold and wet, the hide with the viewing slats open had become damp. Warmed by my pleasant and unexpected encounter with the White Wagtails I  headed for a cup of tea at the yacht club café.