Suprise Visitor.

A cracking walk today with a very varied list today with a couple of superb highlights. The hedges had 4 CHIFFCHAFF, 8 BLACKCAP, 6 WHITETHROAT, 3 YELLOWHAMMER, 5 LINNET, WILLOW WARBLER.
Overhead a superb RED KITE drifted towards Ashleworth, follwed by 2 SHELDUCKS heading towards the river.Also overhead were aGREY HERON, 3 BUZZARD, 7 SWALLOW,7 SWIFT , 4 HOUSE MARTIN.
Around the fields were 6 RED LEGGED PARTRIDGE, STOCK DOVE, 4 SKYLARK, 3 PIED WAGTAILS in the top fields. A GREATER SPOTTED WOODPECKER and a hunting KESTREL. The best sightings were however a family of 1 adult FOX with 4 CUBS,also  1 BROWN HARE.

Two parts

I walked the lower patch today (Sunday), and a shortened walk on the upper patch, the net result was a good list of birds. On the lower patch the result of the flooding was obvious with all the growth around the ditches  dead with the smell of rotting plantlife  heavy in the air. As a result there were no Willow Warbler or Sedge Warbler.
There were 4 BLACKCAP, 2 CHIFFCHAFF, 4 singing REDSTART, 2 WHITETHROAT, a calling CUCKOO, male REED BUNTING.
Overhead were 14 HOUSE MARTIN, 10 SWIFT, just 2 SWALLOW and a female KESTREL.There was also a calling CURLEW, PIED WAGTAIL, 4 STOCK DOVE, just 1 SKYLARK, 4 BUZZARD and 1 COMARENT downriver.
On the upper patch a very short walk there were 7 BLACKCAP, 3 CHIFFCHAFF, 3 WHITETHROAT, a male PEREGRINE flew over at midday and a HOBBY flew towards Tewkesbury.  

Drama

Saturday was a really great Spring morning, with even the sun being seen. The title refers to a amazing sight of a HOBBY giving chase to the local flock of 7 SWALLOW and 2 HOUSE MARTINS it missed a kill but not by much.
In the top fields there was another WHEATEAR present , it:s been a good spring for them this year. Just 1 PIED WAGTAIL today the rest having moved on.
In the hedges today were, 4 CHIFFCHAFF, 1 WILLOW WARBLER, 6 BLACKCAP, 6 WHITETHROAT, 2 Male YELLOWHAMMER and a singing GOLDCREST. However the highlite of the walk was a TAWNY OWL in the open being mobbed by the local BLACKBIRDS etc. There were still 2 SKYLARKS singing from the rough pasture that had not been mown. Other bird seen were 2 BUZZARD, GREATER SPOTTED WOODPECKER, 5 STOCK DOVE, 1 RED LEGGED PARTRIDGE.. 

Destruction

The above refers to the fact Capt Twat the farmer has mown all his grass fields thereby destroying the nests of the 3/4 pairs of SKYLARKS that were nesting there .He really is a wanker .Anyway rant over it was back to the top patch this afternoon ( Friday ), It appeared that there were a few birds moving with a few departures and some arrivals . The hedgerows held CHIFFCHAFF, 3 BLACKCAP, 3 WHITETHROAT,WILLOW WARBLER but all in low numbers. The top fields produced 2 WHEATEAR ,the first for a few days, a mixed flock of 12 SWALLOW, 1 HOUSE MARTIN ,1 SAND MARTIN moving north ,as were 7 SWIFT . A lone LAPWING moving in the same direction was a rather odd sight. A small flock of 5 PIED WAGTAILS were also feeding there.
Raptors were represented by a female SPARROWHAWK and 4 BUZZARD.
It was nice to see both GREATER SPOTTED WOODPECKER and LONG TAILED TITS both feeding young . The usual 2 REDLEGGED PARTRIDGE and STOCK DOVE were also present. 1 BROWN HARE showed a clean pair of heals to Willow

Top and Bottom

I decided to and try to get a part of the top and lower part of my local patch into one walk today( Thursday), as driving past I could see that alot of the flood water had receded , in the event it had not receded enough for me to access the whole area. The species list was a little different but some of the hoped for species were still missed. Sadly I found that the only regular place where Lesser Whitethroat are in my patch had been cut back /destroyed , so I guess that is the end of that. So a healthy 5 BLACKCAP were again the commonest warbler, it appears to be a very good year for them , as it is for WHITETHROATS with 4 seen/heard on the walk. Although very late in arriving they appear to have done so in force this year. On the other hand only 2 CHIFFCHAFF and I think they appear to be down in numbers this year.A singing male REDSTART was nice , its good habitat in the old willows for them .Just 2 SWALLOW over but 14 plus HOUSE MARTINS near to their breeding colony was nice. On the floods themselves were 1 COOT, 3 MALLARD ,2 CANADA GEESE .A large female SPARROWHAWK zipped through the trees. Other odds and sods were PIED WAGTAIL, 2 RED LEGGED PARTRIDGE, STOCK DOVE and a GREATER SPOTTED WOODPECKER.

More Rain

Yes just for a change it"s raining, so Willow and I went out expecting to get a good soaking and in the event we were not dissapointed.As for the birds some still seem to be moving.Highlight was another superb WHINCHAT our 5th this spring , other migrants were CHIFFCHAFF, WILLOW WARBLER, 6 BLACKCAP, a very healthy 7 WHITETHROAT, GOLDCREST, calling CUCKOO, male YELLOWHAMMER, 10 LINNETS including a flock of 8 ( perhaps migrants). 8 SWIFT , 2 HOUSE MARTINS passed over, and 25 SWALLOW were through including a flock of 16 on barbed wire in a cloud burst. Bits and bobs were GREEN WOODPECKER, 2 GREATER SPOTTED WOODPECKER, PIED WAGTAIL, 4 SKYLARK, 4 RED LEGGED PARTRIDGE, 3 STOCK DOVE.So all in all still not bad cosidering the weather.

Neglected Corner

As it says in the title I decided to look at the lower patch of my local area, it is an area that I should pay more attention to as there are some different species that the upper part does not get, although looking over the flood meadows that the area consists of it looked more like Febuary rather than May. The flood waters  are still high, so the hoped for Sedge Warblers were not found and the same for Lesser Whitethroat and our best summer guest Spotted Flycatchers likewise , although the latter has not yet arrived yet I think.
So as for the birds that I managed to see from a fairly restricted area , here goes. The first patch record of a flock of 7 TUFTED DUCK on the waters was nice. In the hedgerow by the flood were WHITETHROAT, CHIFFCHAFF, 3 BLACKCAP. 3 GREATER SPOTTED WOODPECKERS flew over. There was a good number of SWALLOWS feeding over the floods and fields with 40 plus present and it is pleasing to report the first decent count of 20 plus HOUSE MARTINS ,there was a single SWIFT also. A calling CUCKOO is always nice. A single PIED WAGTAIL perched on a floating log .I must try to bring you more from the lower part of the patch as when it dries out it will be very productive.