OK - its not a great photo, but the light wasn't good this morning. However, the point of this photo is to show birds using the canal/stream to navigate between water bodies. The birds in the photo happen to be ducks, but today I also saw a swan and a black-backed gull using this route. Recently I have noticed numerous black-headed gulls fly along the valley twice a day.
During the last few weeks hundreds of black-headed gulls travel along the valley every morning (from the start of dawn) in a roughly NE direction. Then, as the light begins to fade they fly in the reverse direction. Where do all these birds go for the day and back again at night? They could be going to Rudyard Lake or Tittesworth Lake to look for food. Then, at night they may roost on sheltered lakes or roofs in Stoke on Trent (for example around Britannia Stadium). In summer, just after the silage fields have been cut, lots of black-headed, and other gulls, descend on Endon to feed on the invertebrates and other tit-bits lying on the exposed soil. You may notice that black-headed gulls don't actually have black heads at the moment. This is because they are in their winter plumage. Soon their heads will turn black as they enter the breeding season.
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