Saturday May 25 - A quiet week

 Much as I'd like to go birding every day, that is not an option for me and this week was even more non-birdy than normal.

The only day I had free was Wednesday, remember that? The day it rained from dawn till dusk. I tried anyway, reasoning that the inclement weather might produce a passage wader or tern. It did deliver Sanderlings and similar delights to various waters in the Midlands, the ones with a shoreline, but I could find nothing more exciting than a pair of Gadwall. They were at Mappleborough Green.

This morning I had a little window of opportunity and decided to try Bannam's Wood. I had a plan, and it has to be said it worked out perfectly. My target was Spotted Flycatcher, the last regular summer visitor I had yet to see this year. There was one here last year, and I'm pleased to report it was back in almost exactly the same spot.

Spotted Flycatcher

This species was so much commoner as little as ten years ago, but now they take some searching for. It doesn't help that their song is right up there with House Sparrow in terms of melody. "Tzick"         "Tzick"        "Tzick"  that's about all they do. So finding it was quite a coup.

I was joined by Tony, and after an anxious 15 minutes we relocated it. Bannam's Wood is a very nice wood to walk through (although further into it the footpath gets very muddy) and we proceeded to winkle out a singing Garden Warbler, a Red Kite high above the trees, and possibly a second Spot Fly although we couldn't confirm whether the "tzick" heard was that species or just a young Wren, which has an annoyingly similar call.

At least it wasn't raining, so insects could be looked for. A Brown Silver-line moth fluttered out of the undergrowth, but the only new one for the year was the micro moth Plum Tortrix.

Plum Tortrix

This is one of a number of small moths which hide in plain sight cunningly disguised as a bird dropping. They are quite common so it obviously works.

I must get out more.