Middleton Lakes continues to take top local honours in my search for 200 species in 2018.
It seems that this relatively new (to me, anyway) RSPB reserve in the far north of Warwickshire (and far south of Staffordshire or course) scores most regularly when I scan Twitter on a Saturday night looking for interesting prospects for a Sunday morning trip.
This week was no exception, with a report of a Green-winged Teal on the Jubilee scrape being a real eye-catcher. It has been at least a decade since I last saw a GWT and it would be a great one to get 'in the bag' for the year list.
With the clocks 'springing forward' overnight I arrived later than I might have liked, only to hear the dread phrase: "The Green-winged Teal was just there until about 10 minutes ago; then everything went up."
"Should still be here somewhere though," said someone else, encouragingly.
In the end it took a good half hour to relocate, but then I was able to enjoy great views of this Nearctic visitor in bright sunshine, along with a spread of waders including six recently returned Avocets, three Black-tailed Godwits, a few Redshanks, Oystercatcher, five Dunlin and a Little Ringed Plover (the latter another year tick).
With a roadside sighting of Red-legged Partridge on the journey, plus the sudden realisation I hadn't yet added Reed Bunting to my year list, the 2018 total - like the clocks - sprung forward. It has now reached 107.
I'm still not convinced 200 is a realistic target, but it's definitely keeping things interesting. And with all the summer regulars except Chiffchaff still to come, the total should see some further leaps forward over the coming weeks.
