Saturday 18th saw me starting my walk in the derelict orchard behind Tucks Cottages in the hope of finding a Willow Warbler in the place that they have nested in the last few years.Unfortunately none were found but a Cuckoo was calling as I entered and was answered by another towards the lake.
As I walked around the edge of the trees a bird flitted across and into the hedgerow. I soon caught up with it and was delighted to see it was a Redstart(77) , a brilliant start.
Walking down through Kirkins and a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker flew over me and into the wood at the end of the paddock.
I counted 5 Blackcaps and 8 Chiffchaffs on the walk around and finally found a Willow Warbler down at the southern end of the lake.
The lake held two Mandarin Drakes and a Coot and the Great Crested grebe was still sitting.
On the 20th I had a walk just before dark to try to find a Nightingale in the area that I found two last year but was unsuccessful. However I did find a Whitethroat (78) and even better,a Lesser Whitethroat (79) . This is a very early date for me as most have occurred in the first week of May.
21St April produced my first House Martin of the year (80) .
On my way to work on Friday 24th I popped into a very foggy lake and heard a Garden Warbler singing(81).
Today started in drizzle and although no new species were seen there was a great variety. Tucks held two Cuckoos both male and female and I could also hear two other birds calling form opposite directions.Amazing!! A willow Warbler was also there and I found another Lesser Whitethroat at the top of Kirkins. Which is grate news if it hangs around. Another Whitethroat was located by the Pumping station.
At the lake I managed to get some good views of the Garden Warbler where there were also 4 House Martins and a few Swallows.
In total 51 species were seen. A fantastic total in two and a half hours.
Grey Wagtail
Swallow from in the week
When I popped down to the lake this afternoon I found this Mallard with 12 ducklings.
Its always pleasing to get over 50 species on a single visit Steve :-)
ReplyDeleteStill await Garden Warbler and Lesser Whitethroat here, but I did have a lovely male Whinchat this morning (26th)