Saturday May 6

I left the house at 03.00 and was in the field recording a Tawny Owl at 03.13. Today was the annual all-dayer in which several birding localities in the Midlands compete as teams. Team Morton Bagot was myself and Mike Inskip (Dave having defected to Team Marsh Lane Gravel Pit for the day).

Team Morton Bagot should really be called Team Morton Bagot/Middle Spernal/Haselor Scrape, but its a bit of a mouthful. The fact is that I spent the majority of the morning on my patch, while Mike spent the time at Middle Spernal before joining me late morning for a couple of hours pre-pub. After which we nipped down to Haselor Scrape for a ten minute scan before returning to Morton Bagot for the afternoon session.

My very early start was inspired by the prospect of hearing Grasshopper Warbler singing in dead of night. Unfortunately, I was greeted by silence at the pool apart from the odd burst of song or restless calling of a few light sleepers. So by 04.00 I had added Reed Bunting, Pheasant, Lapwing, Canada Goose, and Lesser Whitethroat to the list.

I then drove to Netherstead where more Reed Buntings and a restless Sedge Warbler were singing from the reed-bed. As it started to get light enough to see my notebook without a torch, the dawn chorus slowly got under way. Skylarks started singing at 04.24 and were gradually joined by Carrion Crow, Blackbird, Robin, Woodpigeon, Song Thrush, Red-legged Partridge, Wren, Whitethroat, Great Tit, Moorhen, Blackcap, Dunnock, Chiffchaff, Greylag Goose, Jackdaw, Magpie, and Tufted Duck.

By this point it was 05.30 and I was approaching the pool. I suddenly realised I could hear a reeling Grasshopper Warbler. So much for these birds singing through the night! To be fair dawn was proving something of a disappointment as it was revealing cloudy skies, some light drizzle at times, and a cool north-easterly breeze. I could forgive the Gropper a bit of a lie in.

The pool also contained some Coot, a pair of Shelducks, and a Mute Swan. I reached the flash field at 05.48 and found it was light enough to scan for waders.  A pair of Little Ringed Plovers were on the nearest flash, now almost entirely consisting of mud, while a Stock Dove cooed at me. On the furthest flash I could see a Greenshank, presumably the one which had been present on Monday. A Chaffinch sang. Then I noticed a wader in the field some distance from the flash. I rushed to the scope and quickly established it was a pluvialis plover in winterish plumage. This spring there have been unusual numbers of Grey Plovers about, surely I had struck gold. Well I had in a way, as I reluctantly had to accept it was "just" a Golden Plover. After a while I realised there were at least two more a short distance from it. The other two were approaching summer plumage. I really should have tried for a record shot, but the light was poor, the distance was great, and the birds started working their way into dead ground so that I could eventually only see their heads. The reason I am making such a fuss of these birds is that they are extraordinarily late. I have never seen one here in April, let alone May. Another sweep of the field revealed a Pied Wagtail, while the first Blue Tit of the day joined the list at 06.08.

Another bit of luck. A movement in an oak tree revealed a Little Owl. Although resident, this species can be very elusive. I started to make my way back, seeing a now silent Grasshopper Warbler when I accidentally disturbed it into the hedge, a couple of Lesser Black-backed Gulls, a Goldfinch, a Yellowhammer, and a Buzzard. At the Pheasant pens the Willow Warbler was still singing, and I strolled over to gaze sadly at the still decomposing Barn Owl corpse (I didn't count it!)

More birds appeared out of the gloom; a Swallow, a Bullfinch, a Jay, and at 07.13 a singing Mistle Thrush. A short walk along the road added Greenfinch, and Collared Dove, while back at the car I finally recorded a couple of Linnets at 07.40. I decided to head home, but stopped at the church where I was pleased to add a singing Goldcrest and a House Sparrow.

After breakfast at home with Lyn, I rang Mike to see how he was getting on. Slow he said, but he had still seen Reed Warbler and Little Grebe which I knew were not present at Morton Bagot today. We agreed to meet in an hour's time. I decided to park at Bannam's Wood and walked slowly along the road bordering it. At 09.42 my only patch year-tick of the day was a Swift. The wood also gave up two tricky species; a singing Coal Tit, and even better, a Marsh Tit. Back at Netherstead I hung around waiting for Mike, but the time was well spent as I added House Martin, Great Spotted Woodpecker, a non-calling fly-over Yellow Wagtail, Sparrowhawk, at 10.31 a calling Cuckoo, and a Kestrel. I even got my camera out.

Whitethroat

Mike arrived and we headed for the flash field. A Long-tailed Tit called by the small pond. Mike has unfortunately lost the ability to hear singing Grasshopper Warblers because their song is so high-pitched, so he was hoping I would be able to assist him to see one. Sadly, the show was over, and not peep came from the area it must have still been in. Instead we made it to the flash field noting a rush of Swifts and House Martins heading north, probably 40 of the former and about a dozen of the latter.

Swift

The flash field now contained three Black-headed Gulls (not guaranteed here in May) and a Curlew, presumably the one seen last week.

Curlew

At 11.41 five Starlings flew in. This is another species which largely disappear during the breeding season, although they evidently breed somewhere nearby. A Treecreeper joined the list as it flew back and forth carrying grubs for its young in one of the trees bordering the field. Although the Greenshank was still present, there was no sign of the Golden Plovers.

Earlier this morning I had checked the ploughed field and had seen nothing of any note. However, this time it contained a single male Wheatear.

Wheatear

It was now just after noon, and the drizzle was intensifying. At 12.37 I saw a Rook (Mike had had one at Middle Spernall) and we decided to head to the pub. On the drive down the track we flushed a Green Woodpecker (another one Mike had seen on his patch).

After lunch we decided to head to Haselor scrape. I had expected it to be dry, but it actually looked pretty interesting, with both mud and water. A pair of Little Ringed Plovers were the only waders present, but we did add a Whinchat to the list when I spotted one in the bordering hedge.

The Haselor female Whinchat

Back at Morton Bagot I finally got a Raven (Mike didn't need it), before we spotted a White Wagtail (only the second record for Morton Bagot) on the nearest flash. This is the continental and icelandic race of Pied Wagtail, so doesn't count as a tickable species. Nice though.

White Wagtail

By now it was 15.20 and we were congratulating ourselves for keeping going. The last, 74th, species of the day was a Grey Heron which we disturbed from the pool.

I arrived home and hit the wall, falling asleep almost immediately. I saw 71 species at Morton Bagot, not quite my record, but pretty good on a rather miserable old day in early May.

I wonder how the other teams got on.