24th April 2022

Although it has been a week of sunshine it’s also seen surprisingly cold winds. Despite this I have notched up 12 species of butterfly in the village this week including probably my first April record of Painted Lady…

And always nice to see Holly Blue (appropriately enough in the holly hedge along Manor Lane) although much more difficult to photograph!

Bird migrants on the other hand definitely seem to have been impacted by the cool winds with little sign of passage although I did spot my first Wheatear of the year, even nicer it was only a two-minute walk from my front door…

And I also saw my first Whitethroat and Yellow Wagtails this week…

Sand Martins seemed to have arrived in big numbers last week and the main colony in the parish was alive with activity but when I visited this weekend there wasn’t a single bird there. Have they abandoned it or is this just a temporary pause until the weather warms up?

Other sightings included a low flying Osprey seen by our neighbour Tom and along the river, four Little Egret, four Teal, eight Goosander, Green Sandpiper, five singing Corn Bunting and eight Buzzards including this one under assault from a Carrion Crow.

As you can see it went in feet first and at one point landed on the Buzzard’s back.

I also added a new plant species for the parish list, Marsh Marigold… 

A relatively common plant so I was surprised that I hadn’t recorded it until this weekend. 

17th April 2022

Summer migrants have continued to come in but generally in dribbles rather than floods with only a single Blackcap so far and one sighting of Swallow - three birds by the river in Morton. There are plenty of Chiffchaffs though… 

and Sand Martins are back in some numbers now…

The first Willow Warbler was in the Magic Garden on the 13th with a marked influx the following day with at least a dozen birds singing around the village…

The warm weather has brought the butterflies out too with Speckled Wood, Brimstone, Small Tortoiseshell, Red Admiral, Peacock, Orange Tip and this, rather battered, Comma all seen this week…

The (Dark-bordered) Bee-flys are also out…

One species that has been notable by its absence this year is the Brown Hare. I had a long walk today right through the heart of the best locations and only saw a single animal. I hope this isn’t as worrying as it appears…

Bird sightings today were also distinctly thin but included three displaying Curlews, a vanishingly rare sight in many lowland areas these days, and still small numbers of Fieldfares waiting to leave for their summer quarters.

I’ll finish with this…

It’s the ‘hand’ of a Mole. Dead of course (in all my years I have yet to see a live one), and vaguely unsettling. You wouldn’t be entirely surprised to see this reaching round the bedroom door in an M.R. James story… 

3rd April 2022

A walk along the river downstream of Morton bridge yesterday tallied up four singing Corn Bunting, six Goosander, four Buzzards (including a mating pair!), two Golden Plover, two Little Egrets…

Five Teal…

And my first Snipe (two) of the year.

Given the very low temperatures it perhaps wasn’t surprising that I didn’t see any Sand Martins (although I had two the previous weekend) but there were small numbers of Chiffchaffs moving through the riverside vegetation…

Best sighting though was a superb pair of Otter. I had heard some splashing and expected to see duck but it was the two animals rolling around each other and swimming into what may be their holt under a fallen tree. Unfortunately, my photos were so bad they aren’t worth including!

When I got home, I had a call from Simon at Nosterfield that a White-tailed Eagle had just flown over the reserve and was potentially heading our way. Jim and I rushed out to the top fields but no luck and it later turned out it had swung east and passed well to the south. This actually wouldn’t have been a new bird for the village as I saw one of these magnificent eagles a few years ago flying over Langlands farm.

Today I walked upstream of Morton bridge and immediately flushed three Green Sandpipers from a shingle spit. Other sightings included two Kingfishers, another two Little Egrets, half a dozen Sand Martins and a flock of 25 Golden Plover.

I’ll finish with a nice portrait of a flying Greylag from yesterday…