29th April

Summer migrants continue to dribble in. I had the first Whitethroat, and four singing Lesser Whitethroats, down Greenhills Lane yesterday and my first House Martin over the garden this morning. The church Swallows are now back but numbers of most species are still mainly noticeable by their absence.

There are no waders on the move either which is a pity as there is a short window where the parish flood pools look optimum for drawing birds in. As it was two pair of Shelduck were the only birds on there along with a couple of pairs of Lapwing…

David, the owner of the Magic Garden, was given a trail camera for Christmas and I have finally got round to setting it up for him. Having seen all those wildlife documentaries where they use them to rediscover rare species there was a real sense of excitement when I first plugged it in. Not exactly some elusive big cat but interesting nonetheless and shows the potential for discoveries.

22nd April

Despite a week of warmer weather summer migrants are still slow to return. Only Chiffchaff have arrived in any numbers…

With barely a handful of Willows so far singing in the parish…

…Together with a smattering of Blackcaps. Although Swallows have been seen intermittently since early April any local nesting birds do not seem to have made an appearance before today when a pair of birds were twittering around the stables. Other arrivals today included Lesser Whitethroat, with at least one bird singing down Greenhills Lane, and Chris had Garden Warbler near the river.

Butterflies are also starting to show with Small Tortoishell, Comma and eight Peacocks seen in the Magic Garden including this ragged one…

Yesterday I went to Langton Bridge to see the fascinating, if slightly unnerving, sight of Lampreys spawning. Just on the upstream side of the bridge were a total of about 75 individuals. You could see some suckering on to stones and turning them over. Unfortunately photography was extremely difficult with my cheap camera (and without a polarizing filter) but you can just about make them out…

There was also a large trout here, a Barbel and a small shoal of what I think were young Grayling?

6th April

Large areas of floodwater south of the village again this evening. Birds on here included a record count of 22 Shelduck…

These flying birds included calls I have never heard before, high pitched almost passerine like.

I also had only my third parish records of both Gadwall (four birds) and Shoveler, a drake and this female…

A pair of Teal and eight Tufted Duck…

Plus Two Little Egrets…

Six Curlew, 120 Fieldfare and around 150 gulls including 40+ Common Gulls…

This gives just a small indication of how good the village must have been when it had managed flood meadows here and there were wartime reports of large numbers of wildfowl on the floods.

1st April

Birding can be a cruel hobby. I had a text from Tracey and Russ Palmer that they had three Hawfinches on their bird table. I dropped everything to run across but the birds had just departed. And to show it wasn't an April fools trick he had managed these photos through the kitchen window...

Great addition to the parish bird list but I am very jealous!