The first Spotted Flycatcher(89) arrived on 11th with two in the small wood on the dam end and later the same day the first Turtle Dove(90) was caught in flight and then purred from inside the tree it had landed in.
On the 13th I received news of two birds that had been seen in the garden of Hononton farmhouse. The first was a Black Redstart on the 21st March and the second a HOOPOE!! that was in the garden at 16.45pm on 29th April. To say I am gutted is an understatement.
I consoled myself with the sighting of a Whinchat(91) in Kirkins later that evening.

Distant shot of Whinchat

Interestingly this is only my second spring record.

Today I saw my first Painted Lady this spring.

I managed a shot of one of the three  Reed Warblers on the lake.

The two Lesser Whitethroats still seemed to holding territories and two fledgling Grey wagtails have put in an appearance on the stream.Two robin fledglings were also seen today and the brood of mallard ducklings still totals five.There was also another pair of Common Terns on the lake this afternoon.

The first Swift(86) of the year arrived on Sunday 3rd May over the house as we came back from shopping after which the next arrival was a Yellow Wagtail(87) that flew over Furnace pond at 6am on the 8th on a morning when the wind had died. On the afternoon of the same day two Common Terns(88) were on the lake and as I watched them two more drifted over south.
On Saturday 9th two Lesser Whitethroats were singing-one in Tucks orchard and one in Kirkins.
The Cuckoo continues to call down by the lake giving occasional distant views
Walking down Furnace Lane I stumbled across this Red legged Partridge- a really smart bird!

R-L Partridge

Three Mandarin drakes were on the lake' hopefully the ducks are sitting on eggs somewhere.Two Garden Warblers are still singing at the southern end but the Great crested grebes have lost their nest again.

Whilst talking to one of the anglers on the lake a Lesser Spotted woodpecker flew over us and down the lake.

Today has been an interesting one as a walk this morning didn't produce anything new but there was another pair of Common Terns on the lake and I witnessed the male catch a fish and feed the female.Unfortunately there are no island on the lake so they are not likely to ever stick around.

Female Common Tern at Furnace.

Working in the garden today we had some brilliant views of two Hobbys low over the house which were probably attracted by the hirundines that had gathered overhead. 

This afternoon we had a walk up to Haymans hill to a field that has had its apple trees removed.On entering it I noticed a bird sitting on the ground which when I put my Binos on turned out to be a Fieldfare.What a Fantastic bird for May!!!

Rather late Fieldfare-Not a brilliant shot but I didn't get too close as I didn't want to spook it.

On the walk back to the village a Red Kite went over us going S/E.

This afternoons Red Kite

All in all a very interesting day.

As April drew to a close four more species were added to the list with a fly over Tree Pipit(82) on the 26th which was an expected bonus on another dismal day.
On the 27th we went to Harry Potter world which gave me the chance of an early walk before we left.
On my walk I encountered 4 Garden Warblers in different parts of the patch as well as two Lesser Whitethroats and on the lake the first Reed Warbler(83) was singing from the south east corner. I popped in to the lake in the evening and found a pair of Tufted Ducks.

Later that evening I decided to have walk out just before dark and was delighted to find a Nightingale (84) singing from an area I found a couple last year.

A walk on  Wednesday evening produced the first Hobby(85) which made a few attempts at the Swallows on the lake before flying off towards Shirrenden wood.

This morning (2nd May) I went out with the hope of the first Swift of the year but sadly didn't encounter any.

All the usual suspects were seen and it was great to find eight fledgling Long Tailed Tits beside the lake.

Long tailed Tits

It was a bit dark under the trees and there were a lot of branches to contend with. 

Whilst I was trying to get some shots of the fledglings a Marsh Tit flitted through.