Snipe 1 part

0-20
Snipe is a bird well known among hunters.
It can often be found in the field and in the meadow in central Russia, if only there is a puddle or swamp, and there is dense grassy vegetation along the banks.
The snipe is almost unknown to the general public, because this bird has an excellent protective coloration and often lives in damp tussocks where people do not walk.
0:40 Even if a person appears in such places, then snipe. while on the ground, rarely catches his eye. When a person appears, he hides, and takes off only when he sees that a meeting is inevitable.
The male snipe swims in the air high above the ground. Therefore, usually this bird can be heard faster than seen.
1:00 The snipe comes to us with the first wave of migratory birds, as soon as the snow melts in the fields and meadows. At this time, the migration of the first birds returning from wintering begins. In the open expanses of fields and meadows, the air rings from flocks of lapwings, geese and common cranes. Buntings and Skylarks sing.
1:30 The snipes have also arrived and are feeding on spills formed from melting snow. While these first birds, usually males, are looking for a place for a future nesting site.
And spring begins. In the first warm days, on those reservoirs where snipes will later leks, common frogs organized meetings.
These amphibians have recently awakened from their winter torpor. Males and females from everywhere come to the same pool, where they find a partner and lay their eggs. The pool should be full of water so that it does not dry out in the summer. Now the males actively sing and care for the females. After 3-4 days, a giant ball of eggs forms in the middle of the reservoir, and adult frogs leave this place to return here in a year. In two weeks, larvae-tadpoles will hatch from the eggs, which will spend the first phase of their metamorphosis in this pool. Only in the second half of summer they will turn into small frogs and leave the reservoir.
Snipe females actively feed, and males protect the nesting territory from the encroachments of strangers.
2:00 Along with snipes, other types of waders appeared in the meadows. The Black-tailed Godwit is a large and cautious sandpiper that arrives in April and stays nesting in the Moscow region.
Together with the first ducks and geese, shorebirds feed on spills in river floodplains and on pools of melt water in the field. Many bartails go belly-deep into the water, where they search for food at the bottom.
2:20 Frosts still occur and even sometimes snow falls from the sky, but the birds that have arrived patiently wait out the bad weather. Those of them who stopped here for a short time do not rush north to nesting sites, since the snow has not melted there and therefore it is even colder than here.
Already from the places of wintering Ruffs fly in a close-knit flock. Males, having not yet reached the nesting sites, during the migration are already caring for females and fighting among themselves.
Wearing lush multi-coloured feather collars, Ruffs males devote a lot of time to their toilet. They clean their feathers, bathe and shake their plumage, and then show themselves to the females. The females feed and do not seem to notice the gentlemen. In central Russia, these are migratory birds and will leave the Moscow region in 2-3 weeks.
For rest, a Ruffs flock chooses a puddle in a field or meadow so that there is open space around. Waders carefully observe the environment and easily, sometimes even without a reason, rise up, where they circle over the pond. But these birds feed not only on water bodies, but often fly away to feed in the fields, where they examine arable land.
3:30 May has come. Finally, the melt water of the rivers floods the river floodplain. Herds of ducks, flocks of geese and waders gather on such floods. There is moist soil here and water will remain in the depressions of the floodplain for a long time, so these places are also loved by snipes.
4:20 The snipe cannot feed when the water depth in shallow water is above 10 cm. But he confidently walks along the mud flats near the shore. If for a snipe the water is knee-deep, then next to this place is exactly the shore of a reservoir.
Here he feels at home. Snipe easily finds food, and also calmly straightens plumage. For example, a bird can scratch its feathers with its foot in a hard-to-reach place.
Thickets of grass on the shore form a defense against enemies. Under their saving shadow, you can hide from the eyes of enemies. And when everything is calm around, then it's time for feeding. But even during feeding, the snipe constantly listens to the surrounding sounds from other waders, its neighbors....