A sunny morning with a very light northerly breeze. I began by continuing with the survey of breeding birds, concentrating on the eastern edge. This involved walking along the road. The first four of an eventual six singing Chiffchaffs brightened the first hour.
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| Chiffchaff |
On reaching Church Farm I scanned the distant flash field and saw two
Oystercatchers. This might not seem too momentous, but consider this. These were the first Oystercatchers here since 2013, and were only the sixth record for the patch. It is also the earliest ever record, and all previous records have related to single birds. I was therefore pretty pleased to see them, and headed down the hill to try to get a record shot.
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| The Oystercatchers |
It took a while to reach the flash field, and my route passed the pool was to produce two more year ticks. On the pool, after seeing two pairs of Tufted Ducks I spotted the familiar shape of a
Little Grebe.
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| Little Grebe |
It did what they always do, and slipped into the sedge before I could get close enough to improve on the above shot. Never mind, shortly afterwards I found the first two
Wheatears of the year in the field behind the pool.
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| The male Wheatear |
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| The female Wheatear |
Finally reaching the flash field, I disturbed a Curlew, which evidently flew off calling without me actually seeing it, and then counted 16 Teal, six Snipe, four Green Sandpipers, two Redshanks, and a Little Owl. It was also here that I photographed the Chiffchaff shown above as it landed on the ground to finish off a small bee it had caught.
All in all an excellent visit.
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