Another early start at 5am where I spent an hour or so walking around the campsite in rainy but quite still conditions listening for a Golden Oriole...which I didn't hear. With the weather clearing up, I then took a walk around the area and out onto Chislet Marshes where I noted 2 Mute Swan, 2 Egyptian Geese, 2 Mallard, 3 Pheasant, 15 Stock Dove, 30 Woodpigeon, 1 Turtle Dove (109) flew through the area towards Grove Ferry, a scarce bird with none recorded last year. There were 3 Swift, 1 Cuckoo, 9 Moorhen, 1 Black headed Gull, 7 Herring Gull, 2 Lesser Black backed Gull, 4 Common Tern, 1 Little Grebe, 22 Cormorant, 1 Bittern heard booming early morning from the Stour Valley, 1 Grey Heron, 2 Marsh Harrier, 1 Common Buzzard, 2 Great spotted Woodpecker, 2 Green Woodpecker, 2 Jay, 2 Raven, 7 Blue Tit, 4 Great Tit, 5 Skylark, 4 Sedge Warbler, 15 Reed Warbler, 1 Sand Martin, 12 Swallow, 9 House Martin (110), 3 Chiffchaff, 2 Cetti's Warbler, 5 Long tailed Tit, 4 Blackcap, 1 Garden Warbler, 5 Whitethroat, 3 Mistle Thrush, 2 Song Thrush, 1 Nightingale still singing, 4 Yellow Wagtail, 1 Pied Wagtail, 1 Chaffinch, 5 Linnet and 1 Yellowhammer. 

We are now in the window where Golden Orioles can be heard and with that in mind, I have made four early visit this week to see whether I could pick one up. My five records in the Nethergong area have all been between 10-20th May but as of yet this year, I have not managed to hear any. I will give it another go in the morning. I was out and about early this morning at 4am where I collected the recorder from Chislet Marshes where I was hoping a Quail might call from the area. The habitat looks good but alas, not much at all on the recorder last night. I then parked up at Nethergong where 2 Bittern could be heard booming from the Stour Valley and the Nightingale was singing still. I then spent a few hours walking around the area until 8am where I noted 2 Egyptian Geese, 2 Grey Partridge, 6 Pheasant, 9 Stock Dove, 4 Cuckoo, 5 Moorhen, 1 Common Sandpiper, 5 Lesser Black backed Gull, 3 Common Tern, 1 Little Grebe, 20 Cormorant, 2 Cattle Egret flew east, 2 Grey Heron, 3 Marsh Harrier, 2 Great spotted Woodpecker, 1 Green Woodpecker, 1 Kestrel, 1 Jay and 13 Jackdaw. There were 3 Skylark, 8 Sedge Warbler, 11 Reed Warbler, 23 Swallow, 2 Chiffchaff, 4 Cetti's Warbler, 4 Long tailed Tit, 5 Blackcap, 3 Whitethroat, 3 Mistle Thrush, 2 Song Thrush, 1 Yellow Wagtail, 2 Pied Wagtail, 2 Chaffinch, 2 Linnet and 4 Reed Bunting. 2 Beaver were also noted. 

A good weekend on the Nethergong/Chislet Marshes patch with 6 year ticks. Saturday was sunny, windless and warm compared to this morning where the coat and hat had to come back out again in the strong wind. Birding the area Saturday produced 2 Mute Swan, 3 Egyptian Geese, 2 Tufted Duck (103), 4 Cuckoo chasing each other around which allowed me to grab a few images. There were 36 Herring Gull, 2 Common Tern (104) fishing on the main lake, 1 Little Grebe, 12 Cormorant, 2 Bittern heard booming early morning from the Stour Valley, 6 Cattle Egret (105) flew east, 2 Grey Heron, 1 Great spotted Woodpecker, 1 Green Woodpecker, 1 Jay, 1 Raven, 1 Sedge Warbler, 10 Reed Warbler, 3 Swallow, 2 Chiffchaff, 2 Cetti's Warbler, 7 Blackcap, 1 Garden Warbler, 2 Whitethroat, 2 Mistle Thrush, 1 Nightingale, 4 Linnet, 3 Goldfinch and 2 Reed Bunting. 

This morning produced 2 Egyptian Geese but sad to see one dead in the Penn under some pylons. Not sure whether it got electrocuted or had a fall out with the pair. There were 4 Stock Dove, 46 Woodpigeon, 1 Cuckoo, 1 Swift, 2 Moorhen, 2 Black headed Gull, 13 Herring Gull, 2 Lesser Black backed Gull, 3 Common Tern, 41 Cormorant, 1 Little Egret (106), 1 Grey Heron, 1 Marsh Harrier, 1 Great spotted Woodpecker, 1 Green Woodpecker, 1 Kestrel, 1 Hobby (107), 2 Ring necked Parakeet (108), 19 Jackdaw and 19 Rook. It was nice to see 4 Raven including 2 newly fledged young, 4 Skylark, 7 Sedge Warbler, 16 Reed Warbler, 5 Sand Martin, 2 Swallow, 3 Chiffchaff, 2 Cetti's Warbler, 6 Blackcap, 6 Whitehroat, 1 Mistle Thrush, 1 Nightingale, 1 Yellow Wagtail, 1 Pied Wagtail, 2 Chaffinch, 10 Linnet, 3 Goldfinch, 2 Yellowhammer and 4 Reed Bunting. 

Cuckoo

Common Tern

Cattle Egret