We seem to have reverted to the cold northerly winds that we were suffering from earlier in the spring - it's been freezing the last couple of days! However, at least the floods are looking very full from their recent top-up. This is of course a good thing but actually they are just at present too full in order to be really attractive to waders which seem to like a bit of a shoreline to wander along. Our wader counts seem to reflect this with decreasing numbers of the same birds still about. There were 13 GREENSHANK about in the morning when Barry Batchelor visited though by the evening the count had halved to about 7. 8 DUNLIN are still hanging about and Barry also had a single REDSHANK though that had moved on by the evening as well. Apart from that there were four SHELDUCK and the usual smattering of OYSTERCATCHERS and good numbers of Hirundines hawking low over the water.
I forgot to mention that I went to visit the Trap Grounds earlier in the week and that the reed bed was full of singing REED WARBLERS - there must have been at least four or more singing males in what is after all a pretty small area. Talking of the Trap Grounds, we're lucky that Nicola Devine is checking them out on a regular basis as today she found a splendid SPOTTED FLYCATCHER (a year tick) which stopped off briefly (and sang as well!) before heading on northwards. She also managed to find a SEDGE WARBLER in the area last weekend, sadly not that common a bird these days on the patch.
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| The Spotted Flycatcher courtesy of Nicola Devine |
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| The Sedge Warbler courtesy of Nicola Devine |
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