Sunday April 22

A sunny morning although it clouded over later. The breeze was fairly light and south-westerly. Also, a great date. This weekend is probably my favourite on the Morton Bagot calendar. It invariably turns up a host of year-ticks and often something scarce.

This morning was good, but a little more luck and conviction it could have been so much better. The first of my six birds which were new here (for me) for the year was a Cuckoo. A male gave a single call before Dave arrived, and much later in the morning he was also able to hear it.

A good start, but then the thing I dread; a probable good bird. I was in mid stride walking along the Netherstead track when I was brought up short by what sounded like the flutey trill of a Whimbrel. This would be the first here since the same weekend five years ago. All I needed to confirm it was to hear it again, or to see it, or for Dave to also hear it. None of the above happened (Dave had not yet arrived). So I was left to make the call, to count it or not. I decided against it. AARGH. There are very few birds that sound like Whimbrels, just Little Grebe, and at a stretch female Cuckoo. What excuse did I have? I was wearing a hat...not a good one (the hat or the excuse).

Anyway, Dave joined me  and we got on with looking for birds. A Sedge Warbler sang from the reed-bed, but we couldn't see it. The butterfly count gradually mounted as we saw several Peacocks, Small Tortoiseshells, Brimstones, and Orange Tips.

Orange Tip

Skirting the Chat Field we heard the first of eight Lesser Whitethroats, and the first of five Common Whitethroats singing. All remained elusive, with just distant or brief glimpses achieved. A single female Wheatear was seen on the ploughed field.

We reached the Flash Field and scanned optimistically. A single Little Grebe was an unusual sight on the normally shallow nearest flash.

Little Grebe

Also present were three Gadwalls, four Teal, two Little Ringed Plovers, and two Green Sandpipers. But still no Redshank, are we going to miss out this year? I caught sight of a passerine flying through my field of view as I scanned with the scope. My suspicions were confirmed when we spotted a male Yellow Wagtail. We soon discovered it was accompanied by a female and briefly by another male.

Male Yellow Wagtail

Female Yellow Wagtail

Unfortunately they were never close, and within fifteen minutes had disappeared altogether. Although I do record this species every year, it is often just a brief fly-over so to get the chance to photograph one (even as a record shot) is unusual.

There are far more insects around now. They are always a welcome distraction when the birding starts to flag.

Alder Fly - probably Sialis lutaria

A flock of 30 Lesser Black-backed Gulls and five Herring Gulls was surprising. Presumably they were Redditch breeders searching for a good source of food.

We did a big loop taking in the south end, but were virtually back at Netherstead when the next new bird sang briefly. A Willow Warbler, scarce as ever here, and apparently still declining.

Our final, and best tick though is a species which is getting more and more frequent every year. A Red Kite was flying towards us and went right overhead before disappearing over the copse. Amazingly, a few minutes a second bird appeared, this one circling for ages. The original bird also reappeared to add to the sense of wellbeing.

Red Kite A

Red Kite B

Notice how the second bird has a small notch between the secondaries and the inner primaries, while the first bird does not.

The Whimbrel aside, this was a very good visit.