All plans were shelved this morning as I headed up to Lower Bittell hoping to see an Oystercatcher (I can't believe I'm doing this) before returning to the Plover field at Middletown for another look at the Golden Plovers.
The Oystercatcher had been at Alvechurch Fisheries at the weekend, but seemed to have moved on by the time I got there. However the visit to Lower Bittell had a couple of highlights. Watching from the canal towpath I saw a couple of Grey Wagtails before two Sand Martins gave me a #LocalBigYear tick, and even a photo opportunity (of sorts). My first Small Tortoiseshell of the year rested briefly before fluttering off.
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| Grey Wagtail |
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| Sand Martin |
The rest of Lower Bittell was rather disappointing. The waterlevel has drowned all the mud so evident back in February, and the reservoir was dotted with numerous fishing boats leaving little room for the 30 or so Tufted Ducks, three Great Crested Grebes, and a few Mallard and Coot.
I decided to bite the bullet and head down to Middletown to sift through the Golden Plover flock. I counted at least 164 Golden Plovers in a bewildering state of plumage moult. I'm going right off any thoughts of a Yank Goldy, and nothing leapt out at me today.
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| Golden Plovers |
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| More Golden Plovers |
I attempted to film the main flock to give an idea of what it was like.
In case the film won't play, I've added the Youtube link. My hope had been to film them in flight, but apart from a small party which flew in as I arrived, all with gleaming white underwings, I didn't see any in flight.
My final throw of the dice was a quick look at Haselor scrape, but it turned out that there is still no mud there, so it was just the usual Teal, Shovelers (two), and Shelduck (two).
Meanwhile, at about 17.00 Tony K was finding the first Wheatear of the year at Morton Bagot. Spring has definitely arrived.
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