Saturday April 16

After heavy rain, sleet, and even a bit of snow overnight and this morning, I was fortunate that it all stopped just as I was leaving the house. Although it was very cold, thanks to a light northerly, the sun was shining by 11.00am.

In fact fate was definitely on my side. Regular readers will know I tend to shun Saturdays and go out on a Sunday. However, this weekend a Sunday Lunch invitation to Ross on Wye was accepted and I changed my plans.

A distant adult Peregrine on a pylon was a good start, and the Sedge Warbler was still singing despite the cold. At the pool I counted 11 Tufted Ducks and a Little Grebe. Then four Pipits flew silently north, they looked quite chunky but it seemed so unlikely that that number would relate to anything like Rock or Water Pipit, that I wrote them off as probably Meadows.

At the flash field the water level was really high and had forced the Redshanks, Green Sandpipers, and Snipe to share a grassy knoll which was now a tiny island. After quite a few minutes I thought I would check the grass for the Pipits and straight away I found a Water Pipit. I scanned left, and there was another, and then another. Although I could not see a fourth, these must have been the birds which had flown by. Fantastic, only the second record for the site, the last being in 2009.

The only shot where I managed to get all three in frame

One of the birds at maximum magnification

I rang Dave, who was at Marsh Lane, and then various others, before settling down to watch the birds so that I could point them out. After 45 minutes or so disaster struck as they all flew up and within seconds I had lost them. Five minutes later Mark Islip arrived, followed by John Yardley, Mike Inskip, and Dave. We set about searching the area, but eventually gave up, having heard a Lesser Whitethroat, and not much else.

The Peregrine

The grassy knoll

I decided I had to head home with, as they say, a song in my heart.

Thursday April 14

The weather forecast suggested that this morning would be pretty wet, so I abandoned my original survey plan and settled for just mooching around the patch. As it turned out the weathermen were far too pessimistic and after a cloudy start the sun came out and the late morning to early afternoon was warm and sunny.

It didn't take me long to add to my year list as a Sedge Warbler was in full song, though invisible, at the dragonfly ponds. This was my earliest record here to date. Continuing with this theme, as I reached the pool a distant rattle (song) told me the first Lesser Whitethroat of the year had arrived. It also remained hidden from view. Not quite my earliest, but only a day out.

After this promising start the birding remained enjoyable, but I was unable to add anything else new. Highlights were a dozen Tufted Ducks on the pool, a trickle of Swallows heading north, a Willow Warbler in the hedge by the flashes, which contained the usual two Redshanks, three Green Sandpipers, three Snipe, four Lapwings, and 12 Teal. A single Redpoll flew over, three Wheatears were on the ploughed field, and Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs were singing in numbers, seven of the former, and 11 of the latter. The Little Owl seems to have been gazumped by a Mallard which is nesting in the tree hole the Little Owl usually favours.

A smug looking female Mallard

Willow Warbler

Linnet

Reed Bunting

Almost all of a Treecreeper !

There was plenty of other wildlife to look at as well as birds. One of the most dramatic incidents was when a pair of Roe Deer bucks came haring past me and chased each other around the pool field, briefly head butting one another, before leaping the fence and making off across the ploughed field.

This rather fuzzy shot was the only one where I got both bucks fully in frame

Insects on show included Buff-tailed and Red-tailed Bumblebees, Honey Bees, and the Yellow-legged Mining Bees in their colony with an attendant parasitic Bee Fly, probably Bombylius discolor. I also saw my first Peacock butterfly this year and a few Small Tortoiseshells and Brimstones.

Yellow-legged Mining Bee, Andrena flavirostris

Spring has definitely arrived.

Sunday April 10

Sunny with a brisk and rather cold south-easterly breeze.

Dave and I took a route through the village this morning, noting two pairs of Tufted Ducks on the pond owned by the newly created Clouse Wood Farm and hearing the Blackcap at the corner of Bannams Wood.

In fact, by the time we reached the pool it was shaping up to be a pretty dull visit. A Little Grebe on the pool, female Wheatear distantly on the ploughed field behind the pool, and Little Owl in the tree at the flash field were all useful catch-up birds for Dave, but I had to wait until I scanned the nearest flash before I could add a year-tick.

This came in the form of a pair of Little Ringed Plovers, which in the context of the visit rather saved the day.

The male Little Ringed Plover

One was a little less sharply marked than the other, indicating that they were male and female. Not unexpected, in fact rather late, but well appreciated none the less. The other occupants were four Green Sandpipers, 13 Teal, two Redshanks, and two Starlings.

A single Swallow was flying around, and as I left I noticed it was perched on wires at Church Farm. Presumably it was hoping its mate will soon make it back from South Africa.

So it was a little bit quiet today as spring creeps slowly on.

Friday April 8

A largely cloudy morning with a few sunny intervals and some hefty showers. A light south-westerly breeze, but still quite chilly.

I set off for the south end with the aim of doing some more breeding bird surveying. As I reached my starting point I was pleased to hear a Willow Warbler singing in the same area one pair held territory last year.

Back at Netherstead two more surprises lay in store. An adult Peregrine powered past, the first since January, and then my earliest ever House Martin at Morton Bagot appeared briefly above the barn conversions.

I continued to the pool, which I was pleased to see contained a pair of Tufted Ducks and a Little Grebe. Several Mallard and a pair of Teal had flown off, but I wasn't expecting what happened next. Another pair of ducks were flying over, and their distinctive shape could mean only one species. The second record for the site of Goosander, the last being three in January 2011. I scrabbled for my camera which was in my bag, and was fortunate to get a record shot as they swung round, and headed south.

Goosanders

These and Tufted Duck are the only species of diving ducks yet recorded at the patch. Feeling pretty chuffed, I continued to the flash field which rather failed to live up to the occasion. Two Redshanks, four Green Sandpipers, three Lapwings, three Snipe, a pair of Black-headed Gulls, and 20 Teal were all that was present. A female Mallard sitting in the tree which sometimes contains the Little Owl was a strange sight.

I then made what was to prove an excellent decision. I returned to the pool. As I approached I stopped to look at a silhouetted passerine in the hedge. It shivered its tail, which meant it was something good. It moved to the edge of the bush and I could see that it was a male Redstart. After a couple of sorties to the ground it headed away down the hedge. As a result I managed just one record shot.

Redstart

With a flash of its orange tail it disappeared further down the hedge. I sat out a heavy shower, and then went looking for it to get a better shot, but it was nowhere to be seen.

I eventually gave up and resumed my usual circuit, but apart from a few more Chiffchaffs, no further migrants were seen.

To conclude, I stopped at High Field Farm for another dozen eggs, and recorded the singing Blackcap again, along with a calling Nuthatch.

Thursday April 7

This morning I was volunteered to go to High Field Farm (on the patch) to buy some eggs. Never one to pass up the chance to get in some sneaky birding, I took my binoculars. In fact they were not required because the year tick I recorded failed to show itself.

Fortunately the song of a Blackcap is pretty distinctive. It was singing from the garden at the farm along with numerous Robins.

They all count.

Tuesday April 5

My first evening visit this year coincided with bright sunshine and a light westerly breeze.

The low evening sun is a bit of a mixed blessing. Look in the right direction and you get fantastic views of birds which may be having difficulty squinting back.

Pied Wagtail

Unfortunately the approach to the pool and flash field by the shortest route is very much in the wrong direction. I arrived at the pool having seen nothing, and possibly having stepped over a photographer who was stalking the wildlife very professionally, while I presumably blundered past him. Sorry.

The birds on the flash field had a very familiar feel; two Redshanks, four Green Sandpipers, 33 Teal, two Snipe. A couple of Chiffchaffs and a Swallow were the only summer migrants on show.

The sun sank below the horizon and I headed back. As I approached the Tawny Owl tree I stopped to see if it was there. It was. Normally, in the morning, the owl is very hard to approach. The same cannot be said of the evening. I found I could walk right up to the tree.

Tawny Owl at 20.05

By the time I was back at the car Tawny Owls were calling everywhere, and two Song Thrushes were engaged in a vocal battle before they turned in.

Sunday April 3

A cloudy start, with the sun breaking through from mid-morning. A light southerly breeze.

Dave and I chose to head towards the pool by the most direct route, but we were a little disappointed to find that all the new arrivals from Thursday had gone. However, in their place we found the first Swallow of the year over the pool, while the Oystercatchers which had graced the furthest flash had been replaced by a pair of Gadwalls. Although not a punching the air moment, this was still a species which failed to appear last year, so we were quite pleased to see them.

The pair of Gadwalls

The flash field also contained 21 Teal, three Green Sandpipers, two Redshanks, and four Snipe.

We wandered back recording more singing Chiffchaffs, before Dave encouraged me to head down to the south end to check out the remaining ploughed field for Wheatears. None were found, but the decision did prove fruitful as a calling Curlew led to us spotting a group of three heading south. This equals the best count for the site, which was set in 2008. This time I managed a photograph....of sorts.

Three Curlews heading away

The signs are encouraging this year, although there is still no evidence that a pair is re-establishing a territory.

By late morning the sun was out and scanning the skies produced three pairs of Sparrowhawks and at least 15 Buzzards circling.

Common Buzzard

Perhaps if we had stood around all day a rarer raptor may have flown into view, but as that wasn't an option we called time on the visit.