Despite a frosty start to the day it soon warmed up under the bright, warm and beautiful sun.
As I walked towards the Mere I passed 3 singing Yellowhammers and found 2 more further on. A couple of females were looking on, probably not too impressed by the stuttering and incomplete songs of some of them. Mind you, I'm not a Yellowhammer, so who am I to criticise the songs?!
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Female Yellowhammer, listening but unmoved?
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At the woodland edge a few Goldcrest, I counted at least 4, were singing and feeding in the ivy. A Treecreeper was also briefly seen before it disappeared into the depths of the wood. |
Singing Goldcrest (pity about the shadow)
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Treecreeper
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A cream crown Marsh Harrier drifted along the reed bed and I heard a Jay, Green Woodpecker and Common Buzzard calling. Meanwhile the usual background chorus of birdsong was continuing, with the number of species singing growing by the day. Fabulous, just fabulous.
The Linnet flock has dwindled but there are still a good number to be seen in the hedgerows and set aside field.
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| Linnets |
We have been lucky through this year to have several long-staying birds at the Mere. Smew, Long-tailed Duck, Red-crested Pochard, Scaup and Slavonian Grebe have all been seen regularly. However, with Kirkholme Point being closed due to Covid, we have had little opportunity to get good photos of these birds. When they do approach a little closer to the vantage points we have, sometimes I'm there to snap them up.
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Long-tailed Duck
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Red-crested Pochard flexing its wings
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Pair of Red-crested Pochard
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On my way out of the fields a Kestrel was sitting in a hawthorn bush. Worth a pic I reckoned.
A lovely morning's walk, and I can now really look forward to welcoming back the first summer migrants. Wheatear, Chiff Chaff and Sand Martin - I'm ready.
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