Sunday March 9

A beautiful spring day and I was out in the field at last. Jon Y got there before me, and as I whiled away the time waiting for Dave to arrive I got a significant text from Jon. Shoveler on the flash. Abandoning the car park I decided to head straight for the flash. 15 minutes later I was watching a drake Shoveler, phew! The first since 2012 (although it was rather surprising that there wasn't one last year).

55. Shoveler

 While we waited for Dave to join us I learned that the Shoveler was found yesterday by John Chidwick. Also present on the flash were 44 Teal, two Wigeon, and  a few Snipe. En route I had seen four Jays chasing each other from a distant oak tree. There was still time to add another soft photo-tick.

56. Moorhen

 Dave arrived and the Shoveler went into hiding. At this point the parties split up, Dave and I headed back past the pool while Jon continued on his preferred route. Not long afterwards Dave drew my attention to a wader which over us. Rather unexpectedly it turned out to be a Jack Snipe. I tried for a record shot, but the image is too small and blurry to be identifiable as anything. The bird itself seemed to come down over the ridge.

We again failed to see the Tawny Owl, perhaps the hole is no longer suitable, and ended up returning to the flash. The Shoveler was now showing properly, and we also saw three Green Sandpipers.

As the day warmed up we started to notice insects, in particular Brimstones. We probably counted at least six, none of which landed for even a second. So its Brimstone flight shot time.

The yellow blob is a flying Brimstone

I also took some pictures of a ladybird, some Hazel catkins, and finally a Small Tortoiseshell on a Dandelion.

We also saw a Peacock butterfly, and scanned for raptors, seeing about three displaying Sparrowhawks and half a dozen Buzzards.

All in all a very nice morning.