Birding Saturday in pleasant windless conditions from first light until 09:30 produced 2 Greylag Geese, 1 Water Rail, 1 Coot, 1 Common Gull, 1 Lesser Black backed Gull, 1 Bittern booming early morning from the Stour Valley, 2 Grey Heron, 1 Marsh Harrier, 2 Common Buzzard, 1 Great spotted Woodpecker, 2 Green Woodpecker, 3 Kestrel, 1 Raven, 1 Skylark, 6 Sedge Warbler, 2 Reed Warbler, 4 Chiffchaff, 5 Cetti's Warbler, 5 Blackcap, 3 Whitethroat, 2 Stonechat, 2 Yellow Wagtail, 2 Bullfinch, 1 Yellowhammer and 7 Reed Bunting.  Sunday Morning dawned bright again with little wind. As I was collecting the recorder I could hear 1 Cuckoo (104) calling in the distance. There were 5 Greylag Geese, 2 Shelduck (105) flew in from the east and then flew north inland, 1 Water Rail, 2 Mediterranean Gull south calling, 2 Lesser Black backed Gull, 1 Grey Heron, 3 Common Buzzard, 1 Tawny Owl heard, 2 Great spotted Woodpecker, 2 Green Woodpecker, 3 Jay, 1 Raven, 4 Skylark, 9 Sedge Warbler, 3 Reed Warbler, 3 Swallow, 2 Willow Warbler, 11 Chiffchaff, 14 Cetti's Warbler, 7 Blackcap, 1 Lesser Whitethroat (106) sang from the western boundary, 1 Mistle Thrush, 3 Stonechat, 1 Wheatear, 1 Yellow Wagtail, 1 Yellowhammer and 13 Reed Bunting. Recording last night (Sunday) produced a Tawny Owl and a distant Nightingale (107) which is singing a few hundred metres out of the patch boundary but obviously can be heard within the boundary so therefore countable. I will hopefully hear it at the weekend all being well if I'm out early or late. 

Sedge Warbler

Yellow Wagtail

Nightingale

 

A generally quiet week with the weather seemingly unsettled until today where the temperatures felt quite warm out there. Birds of note throughout the week included another Wheatear I'm pretty sure compared to the bird on Sunday. This bird seemed to have a much whiter supercillium above the eye. Other than the usual common species noted, there have been 1 Water Rail, 1 Coot, 1 Bittern heard booming early morning from the Stour Valley, 3 Marsh Harrier, 4 Kestrel, 2 Raven, 7 Sedge Warbler, 3 Reed Warbler, 7 Chiffchaff, 5 Blackcap, 4 Whitethroat, 1 Willow Warbler, 1 Brambling, 3 Yellowhammer and 11 Reed Bunting. Today there were 2 Sparrowhawk, 1 Red Kite high North, c10 Common Buzzard, 1 Jay, 2 Raven, 5 Skylark, 8 Chiffchaff, 5 Sedge Warbler, 5 Cetti's Warbler, 3 Whitethroat, 2 Stonechat and 2 Bullfinch. Butterflies noted included 1 Large White, 3 Orange Tip, 4 Peacock, 1 Red Admiral, 1 Green veined White and 1 Small Tortoiseshell. 'Nocmig recording at night when the weather allowed was surprisingly quiet with nothing of note recorded but the Badgers continue to show well on the trail camera but the Beavers continue to elude the cameras at night. I will continue to persevere with them as I'm hoping eventually I will connect with them. 

Wheatear 

Marsh Harrier - male

An excellent few days on the patch with a few migrants now starting to appear. Birding Saturday in strong winds from 05:40 till 10:00 produced 2 Shoveler (97) which were seen in flying towards Grove Ferry. There were 2 Grey Partridge, 1 Bittern heard booming from the Stour Valley first thing, 1 Marsh Harrier, 1 male Hen Harrier seen hunting the fields again, 1 Red Kite (98) lingered for a while at some distance before moving off towards Chambers Wall near Reculver. Also seen were 2 Common Buzzard, 3 Kestrel, 2 Jay, 1 Raven, 6 Skylark, 1 Sedge Warbler, 8 Chiffchaff, 13 Cetti's Warbler, 5 Blackcap, 1 Mistle Thrush, 13 Song Thrush, 2 Stonechat, the female seen carrying nesting material, 1 Meadow Pipit, 1 Bullfinch, 2 Yellowhammer and 4 Reed Bunting. 

This morning again with a fresh wind but a little more sunnier from 06:25 to 09:45 produced a good variety of birds including 1 Lapwing, 1 Grey Heron, 1 Marsh Harrier, 1 Common Buzzard, 3 Great spotted Woodpecker, 1 Green Woodpecker, 1 Kestrel, 2 Jay, 2 Skylark, 3 Sedge Warbler, 1 Reed Warbler (99) was seen singing by the main lake, 1 Grasshopper Warbler (100) singing briefly and seen well before skulking back into the bushes. There were 2 Swallow, 1 Willow Warbler, 5 Chiffchaff, 7 Cetti's Warbler, 7 Blackcap, 1 Common Whitethroat (101) seen well singing, 1 male Wheatear (102) was in a ploughed field and after some patience, I was able to grab a few record shots of this smart bird which is only my second ever spring record. There were 3 Song Thrush, 2 Stonechat, 1 Yellow Wagtail (103) flew west calling, 2 Meadow Pipit, 1 Greenfinch, c20 Linnet, 1 Siskin, 3 Yellowhammer and 5 Reed Bunting. A great session and an excellent time of year to be on the patch finding the new migrants as they arrive. I was hoping for a Ring Ouzel but no luck today but there is always tomorrow. Nothing to report on the 'nocmig' front as most nights have been very windy for recording and still nothing on the Beaver cam although the Badgers continue to show well on the trail camera. It was also pleasing to see my first 4 Peacock butterflies along with 1 Orange Tip and Speckled Wood. 

Male Wheatear