Breeding birds

Lade - cool, sunny, e 3 - These past couple of mornings have been mainly spent ranging across the local patch surveying the breeding birds. The warbler tribe are now well ensconced on territories with seven species present in their usual numbers, apart from Sedge Warblers which have increased by five pairs from last year and Lesser Whitethroat now on two pairs. At least two males and one female Cuckoos were active around the willow swamp and reedbeds, where their host species, Reed Warblers, are busily constructing nests and egg laying.

                                A good spring for Sedge Warblers

  As for wetland birds it looks as though the last of Shoveler, Teal and Pochard have deserted the lakes, although both Great Crested and Little Grebes are both nesting in good numbers. Other species in single pairs breeding around the site include, Oystercatcher, Shelduck, Green Woodpecker, Song Thrush and Stonechat.
  A visit to Dungeness this morning yielded very little apart from the usual gulls and Common Terns at the Patch, two singing Black Redstarts in the power station complex, plus two Hobbies and 10 House Martins inbound.