After Saturdays incessant rain, Sunday dawned bright and breezy .So Willow and I hit the patch at around 8.30am , a bit later than the norm.
As it was windy it was never going to be easy going but we still managed to find the usual 6 Blackcap , lesser numbers of Chiffchaff but a healthy 7 singing Whitethroats .
It was nice to see a Greater Spotted Woodpecker the first for a few days , they seem to be a bit down in numbers this year.
In the windy conditions attention was given to what was going on overhead. 2 or 3 Buzzards were floating overhead , good conditions for them I feel. There was a nice selection of 12 plus Swallow along with 8 plus House Martins and 5 plus Swift feeding over and around the hedges .
An unusual sighting was a Lapwing that headed north , was it a late migrant or a local breeding bird from the local reserves. 2 Greylags also passed over heading towards Worcestershire.
As I was on the return leg the sound of 2 Bullfinches alerted me to their presence within the hedgerow. We are having a good run on them at the moment.
Over the pastures 6 plus Skylark were in good voice and 7 Stock Dove were seen . As Willow and I made our way across a field with fairly long grass in it a bird darted up in front of us and landed on a large dung heap, the sight of a fine male Yellow Wagtail greeted my eyes , but it got better when a female landed along side her boyfriend .They are in the vicinity of where they bred last year so fingers crossed.
In the garden the nest box has almost fallen to bits so I decided to take it down but I was taken aback to find 4 Blue Tit chicks almost fledged inside if they survive it will a miracle , also seen was a juvenile Robin in the garden.
So if I can just find some Spotted Flycatchers things will feel a whole lot better .
