I was out of the house by 05:00 where after collecting the recorder, I had a few hours walking around the Nethergong / Chislet Marshes area. The nocmig recorder had a Barn Owl calling and what seemed like a wader call but otherwise, pretty quiet. I hadn't been walking long when I could see a male Marsh Harrier quartering a ploughed field when it suddenly dropped down and came up with a leveret in its talons. From no where, an adult Hare appeared and gave chase, literally jumping in the air to get its you back. The Harrier soon dropped it but now the Crows and a Common Buzzard where on the scene. The Hare spent the best part of 20 minutes chasing everything away before she moved off to about 100 yards from where the leveret had been dropped. For some reason, she didn't move and the Buzzard slowly moved back to the area. I suspect the leveret had been killed by the Harrier. I moved off at this point and noted 1+ Greylag Geese heard, 14 Mute Swan, 9 Egyptian Geese still, 9 Moorhen, 1 Snipe, 2 Common Sandpiper, 1 Green Sandpiper, 1 Black headed Gull, 1 Common Gull, 1 Common Tern, 1 Little Grebe heard, 14 Cormorant, 1 Grey Heron, 1 Sparrowhawk, 4 Common Buzzard, 1 Kingfisher, 2 Great spotted Woodpecker and 2 Green Woodpecker. There were 2 Kestrel, 2 Jay, 2 Raven, 6 Skylark, 4 Sedge Warbler, 1 Reed Warbler, 19 Swallow, 4 Chiffchaff, 6 Cetti's Warbler, 2 Long tailed Tit, 2 Blackcap, 11 Whitethroat, 1 Mistle Thrush, 1 Wheatear, 3 Chaffinch, 2 Bullfinch, 1 Greenfinch, 55 Linnet, 4 Goldfinch, 7 Yellowhammer and 3 Reed Bunting. 

Wheatear

Highlights of a late morning visit yesterday in very warm conditions for a few hours were 9 Egyptian Geese including the 7 goslings and adopted Mallard still, 2 Lesser Black backed Gull, 1 Sparrowhawk, 1 Marsh Harrier, 2 Common Buzzard, 3 Kestrel, 2 Raven, 2 Reed Warbler, 7 Swallow, 2 House Martin, 2 Chiffchaff, 2 Cetti's Warbler, 1 Lesser Whitethroat (116), 1 Whitethroat, 1 Treecreeper, 1 Whinchat (117), 2 Pied Wagtail, 1 Bullfinch, 10 Linnet and 1 Goldfinch. A Clouded Yellow was only the second record on the patch here in 10 years. 

I was out early this morning now I have the car back and walked around the campsite and parts of Chislet Marshes where I noted 9 Egyptian Geese still, 62 Mallard, 3 Pheasant, 1 Golden Plover heard calling, 2 Green Sandpiper, 6 Black headed Gull, 1 Lesser Black backed Gull, 2 Common Tern, 11 Cormorant, 1 Grey Heron, 1 Sparrowhawk, 1 Common Buzzard, 1 Little Owl, 2 Great spotted Woodpecker, 2 Green Woodpecker, 3 Kestrel, 3 Jay, 105 Jackdaw, 37 Rook, 2 Raven and 10 Sedge Warbler. There were 6 Reed Warbler, 7 Swallow, 2 Willow Warbler, 3 Chiffchaff, 3 Cetti's Warbler, 4 Long tailed Tit, 2 Blackcap, 8 Whitethroat, 1 Mistle Thrush, 1 Song Thrush, 14 House Sparrow, 7 Yellow Wagtail, 3 Pied Wagtail, 7 Chaffinch, 2 Bullfinch, 72 Linnet, 6 Goldfinch, 4 Yellowhammer and 4 Reed Bunting. It was pleasing to see a (the) Clouded Yellow where I managed a few shots of this rare species here and I also saw my first Water Vole for the patch. Nocmig recording Friday night produced 1 Tawny Owl, 1 Barn Owl and 1 Oystercatcher (118) flying over calling during the night. 

Whinchat

Clouded Yellow

With the car in the garage for the next four or five days, it's back to the bike for getting around birding. I left home this morning at 04:30 where it took me nineteen minutes to cycle over to Nethergong in the growing light. I spent a good few hours walking around the Nethergong and Chislet Marshes patch where I noted 59 species which is pretty good for this time of the year. The undoubted highlight was when I picked up on a Wood Sandpiper (114) flying over at 06:00 calling. I only had a few seconds watching it before it disappeared over the tree line towards Grove Ferry. This is a new species for the patch and one that I thought I may have recorded at night passing over, so to actually see and hear it was a real bonus. Also seen were 9 Egyptian Geese with 7 goslings still and the adopted Mallard, 16 Moorhen, 2 Green Sandpiper, 2 Black headed Gull, 2 Common Gull, 2 Herring Gull, 1 Common Tern, 6 Cormorant, 1 Grey Heron, 2 Marsh Harrier, 1 Common Buzzard, 2 Little Owl, 2 Great spotted Woodpecker, 3 Green Woodpecker and 3 Kestrel. There was 1 Hobby, 1 Jay, 12 Blue Tit, 8 Great Tit, 11 Long tailed Tit and a bonus Coal Tit (115) was found in Chislet Churchyard, only the second record here in 10 years! There were 5 Sedge Warbler, 15 Reed Warbler, 5 Swallow, 1 Willow Warbler, 1 Chiffchaff, 6 Cetti's Warbler, 4 Blackcap, 13 Whitethroat, 1 Goldcrest, 1 Treecreeper, 1 Mistle Thrush, 1 Song Thrush, 8 Blackbird, 11 House Sparrow, 6 Yellow Wagtail, 5 Pied Wagtail, 3 Chaffinch, 2 Bullfinch, 1 Greenfinch, 43 Linnet, 6 Goldfinch, 3 Yellowhammer and 4 Reed Bunting. A new butterfly species for the patch was also seen this morning with 1 Wall Brown noted. The addition of Wood Sandpiper takes my Nethergong / Chislet Marshes patch list to 158 species.

Coal Tit