Wednesday 1 May 2013

A Quiet Day

Lade - 0600hrs - cool, sunny, ne 3 - Spent a couple of hours working the local patch in bright sunshine,but still with that nagging easterly keeping temperatures low. All the usual warblers in song apart from yesterdays Lesser Whitethroats which appeared to have moved on overnight. Around the reedbeds there was a noticeable increase in Reed Warblers and 2 male Cuckoos were already calling from the willow canopy in order to attract a mate. A trickle of Swallows and Goldfinches moved north, while there was no sign of the Black-necked Grebe on north pit.
RSPB - 1130hrs - Called in at the visitors centre where the glum faces scanning across Burrowes  told its own story - where have all the migrants got too? (those boys want to try birding in land-locked Bedfordshire for 30 years!)  However, whilst I was sitting there a Greenshank and Whimbrel dropped in and 3 Little Egrets were scattered around the margins; the Great Whites having dispersed to regions unknown. The usual Marsh Harriers were floating over Hookers along with 2 Hobbies hawking insects and a `booming` Bittern in the reedbed, while 3 Garganeys were skulking on Dengemarsh. Good to see a couple of terns on the recently installed rafts.

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