Sunday 25 April 2021

25th April 2021

I mentioned in an earlier post the list of target birds I had drawn up Last year and another unexpectedly got ticked off yesterday. I went to a neighbour’s garden to help set up a moth trap last night. I noticed a movement in a whitebeam and there was a superb male Pied Flycatcher!  It proved quite elusive in the shadows of evening but I managed a couple of shots…


I assumed if I was ever to catch up with this species in the parish that it would be some briefly glimpsed autumn migrant along the river but to find it a few yards from home and a spring male…A cracking bird!!

The mothing was less successful with only two Hebrew Characters caught!

Summer migrants continue to dribble only slowly in, I still haven’t seen House Martin and I only saw my first Whitethroat today. Swallows are slightly more frequent but none of the main village nesting sites are yet occupied. As if to emphasise it I saw a flock of around 120 Fieldfare still feeding in the pasture near Far Fairholme today. One of the latest flocks I have ever seen in the village. They were typically flighty so only a poor distant photo but they look very striking in full breeding dress…

Yesterday along the river I found five singing Corn Bunting and my first (three) Wheatear of the year...

Elsewhere, I had my first odonata of the year yesterday with a Large Red Damselfly in the Magic Garden…

And it seems to have been a good year for Bee Flies…

This is Dark-bordered Bee Fly, the only species we currently get in the village.

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