I made an early 05:25 start on the 1st May at Nethergong for 45 minutes before work where I noted 2 Tufted Duck (111) which were on the main lake and also seen mating. Perhaps they will try and breed in the area like they have done so before. Also seen were 1 Cuckoo, 1 Bittern heard booming early morning, 1 Grey Heron, 1 Common Buzzard, 2 Great spotted Woodpecker, 1 Green Woodpecker, 2 Jay, 2 Sedge Warbler, 3 Reed Warbler, 1 Swallow, 5 Chiffchaff, 3 Cetti's Warbler, 3 Blackcap, 3 Whitethroat, 1 Treecreeper, 2 Bullfinch and 5 Goldfinch.
With my birthday yesterday (2nd May) I booked the day off work and spent most of the day birding in the Nethergong area. Despite the largely cloudy skies, I had and excellent day where a good range of species were noted. The undoubted highlight was finding a stunning singing WOOD WARBLER (112) in a small group of trees which sang on and off for most of the day. It remained extremely elusive but I did see it twice well and managed what can only be described as a 'record shot' and that's being generous! It was heard by two other birders which was reassuring. It just goes to show that you never know what will turn up and this was a species that was never really on the radar to be seen here. It makes all the hours of walking around suddenly worthwhile.
Wood Warbler 'trilling'
A selection of Wood Warbler 'trilling' calls
Other birds noted included 2 Ring necked Parakeet (113), 3 Grey Partridge, 1 Cuckoo, 4 Lesser Black backed Gull, 1 Grey Heron, 2 Marsh Harrier, 1 Red Kite west, 2 Common Buzzard, 1 Great spotted Woodpecker, 1 Green Woodpecker, 2 Kestrel, 7 Hobby (114) which were scoped over towards the Stour Valley, 1 Jay, 4 Raven including 2 well grown young still in the nest, 2 Skylark, 2 Sedge Warbler, 5 Reed Warbler, 13 Sand Martin, 2 Swallow, 4 Chiffchaff, 2 Cetti's Warbler, 2 Blackcap, 6 Whitethroat, 2 Stonechat, 2 Yellow Wagtail, 1 Bullfinch, 1 Greenfinch, 3 Yellowhammer and 5 Reed Bunting. Chris Gibbard made a visit where after hearing the Wood Warbler singing, he found a Short eared Owl (115) in the area. A couple more 'Nocmig' sessions produced very little again, just the 2 Bittern booming still throughout the night. May can be an excellent month for birding, fingers crossed I am able to connect with a few quality birds.
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