Hirundines

Lade - mild, cloudy, rain, s 3 - A wet old morning, but mild with a wind blowing in from the south that delivered the first decent numbers of hirundines over the lakes, mostly Swallows, 50 or so, plus 20 Sand Martins and our first two House Martins of the spring. The brisk wind kept pushing them off the water and high over the willow swamp where feeding conditions were better as insects emerged from the bushes. Also of note were 4 Shelducks that flew in from the west and the long-staying Great White Egret in the reed bed on the far side of south lake.

                                Black-necked Grebe and Shelducks, Lade

The rain stuck for most of the day only relenting around tea time. We had a second look at the local patch this afternoon where 2 Black-necked Grebes had dropped in on south lake. However, the hirundines had moved on, but Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff and Cetti`s were all singing by the ponds as the clouds lifted.