Friday afternoon and glorious weather found me back on the levels along with one of my top ten levels birds, Yellow Wagtail, with my first for the year singing on Down Level. Little else of note on Friday. The picture above is of one seen during Sundays' WEBS when 2 were singing and feeding around the scrapes and ditches.
The WEBS count was predictably quiet with the vast majority of duck having cleared out, the exception being a pair of Tufted Duck on Spoonbill scrape. Walking back to White Dyke a close burst of Cettis' song from a Blackthorn bush was hardly unexpected however the bird deciding to put in an appearance was, as was my ability to get a couple of pictures! Not the greatest I know, but they are my first of this species which I never fail to encounter on the patch.
A single Redshank by Mappins' will hopefully hang around for the summer whilst an influx of Sedge Warbler has clearly taken place since Friday with 4 holding territory along White Dyke. The Meadow Pipit pictured was also along White Dyke and returning to White Dyke farm in glorious warm sunshine butterfly activity began to pick up with half a dozen or so Peacock and, at Clegg corner, my first Speckled Wood of the year (pictured below).Whilst walking I had been cogitating on the fact that one of the features of the spring so far has been the general absence of waders, probably due to the generally fine weather. Sure enough this triggered the inevitable Whimbrel in a sheep field moment, so another year tick in the bag. Finally, to round off my morning, and a little later than my usual first date, a single Swallow hawking insects at White Dyke farm. Enjoy the sunshine.
A single Redshank by Mappins' will hopefully hang around for the summer whilst an influx of Sedge Warbler has clearly taken place since Friday with 4 holding territory along White Dyke. The Meadow Pipit pictured was also along White Dyke and returning to White Dyke farm in glorious warm sunshine butterfly activity began to pick up with half a dozen or so Peacock and, at Clegg corner, my first Speckled Wood of the year (pictured below).Whilst walking I had been cogitating on the fact that one of the features of the spring so far has been the general absence of waders, probably due to the generally fine weather. Sure enough this triggered the inevitable Whimbrel in a sheep field moment, so another year tick in the bag. Finally, to round off my morning, and a little later than my usual first date, a single Swallow hawking insects at White Dyke farm. Enjoy the sunshine.
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