I suffer from an affliction which is a major handicap for a birdwatcher – laziness. I am not good at early morning starts but today I walked down to the riverbank for 5.30 to see…very little. (although this heron wasn’t expecting anyone this early)
But there was some compensation in the form of my first Common Sandpiper of the year…
Although they breed just upstream of the parish they are surprisingly scarce here.
A similar walk along the river on Saturday turned up my
first Lesser Whitethroat, singing in the willows by the bridge, and a marked
movement of Swallows. More than 50 were counted moving low along the course of
the river. Obviously migrants, not feeding but heading relentless north.
Also along here was a notable arrival of Yellow Wagtails
with at least seven birds present (all males)…
And two Wheatears...
As well as six singing Corn Buntings…
And my first Kingfisher of the year. They had recovered numbers really well but have become inexplicably scarce again in the last couple of years.
On one bend of the river there was a tight gathering of five
Little Egrets, three Grey Herons, two Shelduck and seven Goosander (all males).
I assume the low waters levels had concentrated prey species. It was a real snowstorm
when they all took off.
I have also had some outstanding views of hares over the
last few days, including a few boxing and ‘meerkatting’…
Year list to end of April - 90 species.
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