Summer stuff

Although I've not had the chance to post on my last few trips out, I think they can be neatly lumped together as: nice weather, nothing remarkable on the birding front, plenty of plants and insects to keep me interested (confused). Oh, and lots of insect bites - why am I so popular with them?

I was delighted to find my first orchids at Ufton a couple of weeks ago, the Common Spotted Orchid to be precise. Not that this took any great skill on my part, just the brains to turn up at the right time of year and actually look for them. Forgot my camera though, which makes it all the more fortunate that there were also some in Fingringhoe, Essex, this weekend - hence the picture.

Bird-wise, I'm disappointed to report that I have still only heard one cuckoo this year, and that at Brandon Marsh. Regular spots from previous years, including Ufton, Napton Reservoir and Radford Semele, have all been silent this year. Hmm. I notice that Swifts have been put on the amber list this year as well - sometimes it's hard to stay optimistic about these things.

Anyway, Fingringhoe put on a pretty good show - Nightingales still calling, plenty of warblers around, the usual Curlews and Little Egrets out on the marshes, and lots of newly fledged birds around the place - as with the Magpies in the photo, and the Long-tailed Tit, one of dozens which swarmed past me at one point.

Flower of the month: Common Spotted Orchid (Dactylorhiza fuchsii), just how did I get to my age without noticing things like this before - absolutely beautiful.

Sunny May days in Leam Valley

OK, so late May is hardly the top birdwatching season. In fact it can be a bit quiet. But it seems downright churlish to complain on days like today.

Our 'barbecue summer' is back with a vengeance, with the hot hot days making morning by far the best time to be out and about. 7am at Leam Valley was beautiful and a joy, just as long as you weren't looking for anything rare or remarkable (I wasn't).

The birds were in good voice, if a little elusive. Blackcaps and Garden Warblers both showed well, along with a couple of Chiffchaffs - but no Willow Warblers. A male Sparrowhawk drifted low and slowly overhead, while Swifts screamed on high and Swallows dropped down onto the scrape pool to drink. Reed Warblers and Whitethroat hopped around the waters' edge, taking advantage of reedbeds which have really started to come into their own this year.

And although my attention was firmly fixed on the birdlife, it was impossible to ignore the plants and flowers all around. Again, the water's edge was the place to be, with buttercups, oxeye daisies, red campion and bird's foot trefoil all intermingling to form spectacular splashes of colour.

Bird of the day: Sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus), a relatively common raptor which doesn't often give good views (more often than not it'll be a low direct dash past you before you get binoculars anywhere near your eyes). This was was low, slow and gave superb views before it slunk menacingly back into the woodland to hunt.

What's in a name?

Today's lunchtime stroll around Henley-in-Arden got me thinking about our very human obsession with naming, categorising and organising the world around us.

Why do I work so hard at identifying birds by sight and sound? Why am I starting to photograph and identify the plants I see when I'm out and about? And why am I so ashamed at my lack of knowledge on butterflies, moths and dragonflies?!

Well, today's first sighting didn't take much identifying - the brilliant flash of blue that darted away from me down the stream was clearly my first Kingfisher on this stretch of water for a couple of years.

But as I wandered further, I started to realise that my obsession with naming things was helping me see my surroundings much more clearly than might otherwise be the case. If I didn't know it was White Campion, would I have paid so much attention to the flashes of white along the riverbank? If I hadn't planted a few Flag Irises in my own pond, would I have stopped to admire the stand of yellow flowers by the small pond? And if I hadn't failed to find Ragged Robin on a so many recent outings, would I have even noticed the few whispy pinky flowers just a few feet away (pictured)?

I think not.

The act of naming, of knowing what we are looking at, fulfils many purposes and has many joys, but principal among them is the way it encourages awareness. The very act of putting a name on something compels us to stop and notice it, and in doing so to begin to value it. And that, in turn, makes our world a more joyous place.

Either that or I'm just justifying my own nerdy obsessions. Possible, distinctly possible.

Bird of the day: Yes, there is one among all this, the Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis), the unmistakeable flash of blue that enlivens any riverside walk.

So, did I find a Nightingale?

With the option of spending part of my Bank Holiday weekend with family in Essex, I thought I'd dedicate myself to finally tracking down a Nightingale (Luscinia megarhynchos).

This legendary songster is now extremely rare in Warwickshire, so my chances of stumbling across one on home turf are pretty low. Fingringhoe in Essex, on the other hand, must surely be one of the UK's hottest hotspots, with 30-40 males singing there every April and May.

Knowing that the bird is an intensely shy skulker, the first precaution I took was to spend some time listening to an mp3 of its song, in order that I could pick it out when I heard it. The second precaution was to get up nice and early and arrive at Fingringhoe as soon as it opened - Nightingales, like most songbirds, are more vocal and visible at the start of the day.

So... did I find any? Well, I arrived to be told at the visitor centre that I was probably a week too late - not the best of starts. Then I wandered round for 20 minutes hearing nothing but Whitethroat, Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler and Blackcap song, interspersed with more common resident species like Wren, Blackbird, Robin and Chaffinch.

And then I heard it. Wow. No danger of not recognising that then. It turns out that the Nightingale is a bit like opera - nice to hear a recording, but absolutely nothing like the experience of hearing it live. It is a spectacular liquid bubbling call, a call that stops you dead in your tracks the moment you hear it. As long as you're familiar with the other loud songsters (notably Song Thrush and Cetti's Warbler), there is no chance of mistaking it for anything else.

So I heard one. I heard four or five in fact. But seeing them was another matter all together. I scoured, searched, loitered, stared, scanned and squinted at bush after bush, but all in vain. Until finally, after 20 minutes spent stalking one particularly vocal specimen, I found him. On the plus side I got a great view, full length from beak to tail. On the downside, it lasted for perhaps a second before the bird dived back into cover.

So, success of sorts, enjoyable but limited. I'll definitely be coming back for more.

Bird of the day: Nightingale (Luscinia megarhynchos), a wonderful voice but not much of a looker (which reminds me, Britain's Got Talent is on in an hour).

ps. I clearly didn't have long enough to get a photo. This one is courtesy of Sergy Yeliseev on Flickr.

Nature notes - a quick update

This is just a quick post to fill in some gaps from various trips and sightings from early May.

May has generally been a lot less pleasant than April, with showers and blustery winds the order of the day. However, that hasn't stopped nature going about its business, and there's still been plenty to see while out and about on my day-to-day travels.

The first Swifts arrived back in Henley-in-Arden on or around 7th May, very much in line with previous years. While driving around the neighbouring countryside, there seem to be more Lapwings over the fields than in previous years, and I'm hoping this marks a return to wider spread breeding due to changing farming practices. Fingers crossed anyway.

On the subject of breeding birds, I put my first ever nest box up in autumn last year, and I'm now the proud steward of a family of Blue Tits. They're going through fat balls like crazy, but it's worth every penny - it's amazing to watch just how busy the parents are at the moment.

The photo is of a bracket fungus on a dead tree where my wife works. It's absolutely amazing and I have meant to photograph it every year it appears. I read somewhere that fungi are more closely related to animals than plants - is that true?

And finally, I missed one trip to Ufton Fields out of my regular trip reports, and it was an important trip for one key reason. I have often been told that Ufton represents my best chance of finding Turtle Doves locally, and while I couldn't actually see any last weekend (10th May), I did hear several birds, softly purring along The Ridge in between the Wood Pigeons. Ultra distinctive and ultra exciting, although I was gutted that 45 minutes of searching didn't throw up so much as a glimpse. Still, never mind - nice to know they're there.

Bird of the week: Turtle Dove (Streptopelia turtur), a beautiful elegant bird with a soft, distinctive purr. Sadly rare these days, and still in decline.

Siskins in May (and in my garden!)

The thing about birding is that the unexpected rarely turns up when you're expecting it (stick with me for a moment, that's more profound than it sounds).

If I trek off to a 'hot-spot' reserve looking for something rare or unusual, I'm not often surprised - if only because someone else will invariably have found anything rare or unusual before I get there, and emailed / blogged / forum-posted / told me directly about it.

Tonight however, a quick glance out of my kitchen window genuinely surprised me when I was least expecting it.

My usual glance up from the sink might reveal House Sparrows on and under the seed feeders, Blue Tits on the fat balls, a few Starlings squabbling on the bird table, a couple of Wood Pigeons loitering suspiciously near the veg plot, and then the occasional Blackbird, Dunnock, Wren or Greenfinch to liven things up.

What I wasn't expecting to see tonight was a pair of Siskins on the niger seed feeder. These are relatively common passage or winter birds, but extremely rare (as far as I know) in Warwickshire as breeding birds during our summer months. The latest I've ever seen in the county before were on February 27th, so this pair is either extremely late leaving, breeding locally or... what? Any thoughts?

Bird of the day - errr, that'll be the Siskin (Carduelis spinus), a lovely little finch which should be a long way west or north of here at the moment!

Napton Reservoir - Scalped?

I saw this article about Naption Reservoir, insects and biodiversity in the Leamington Courier and got very depressed.

I know that last year's cutting back of the water edge vegetation had a damaging effect on habitat for nesting Sedge Warblers and the like, but this article reports on the subsequent damage to insect life and wider biodiversity.

Napton could be a great little habitat if properly managed - let's hope British Waterways gets moving on trying to "encourage biodiversity while still ensuring compliance with the reservoirs act".

An irritating pest in Cubbington Wood

Birdwatchers, like mosquitoes and many other irritating pests, favour watery habitats.

I think the logic goes like this: while it is usually possible to find non water-loving birds near water (in the hedgerows, fields and woods nearby for example), it but all but impossible to find waders, waterfowl, kingfishers or other water-dependent birds unless there is actually some water to hand. Thus, with the odds of a good morning's birding swung firmly in our favour, we flock like thirsty warthogs to the nearest water holes.

I like to think that a lack of watery habitats is my main reason for not not visiting Cubbington Wood more often. Sadly I think it may also be down to the fact that my (ir)regular route is quite a long walk - all too often my head and heart say "good idea" while my legs and stomach say "why not take a quick stroll rounds Leam Valley / Ufton / Napton Reservoir / Brandon, and then slope off for a quick fry up?"

Well, today my head and heart won. Spring is a great time to visit woodlands, so with the promise of warblers, wildflowers and wilderness, I set off on my stroll.

The walk starts at St Michael's Church is Weston-under-Wetherley and sets off towards the wood across farmland which is voluntarily managed for nature - broad and shaggy hedgerows, wide grass margins full of wild flowers, and permissive paths to allow everyone to enjoy the fruits of this enlightened regime. The farm in question has a sign at its entrance promoting Leaf - Linking Environment and Farming, a wonderful initiative that makes so much different to a simple stroll through the countryside. I've said it before, and I'll say it again - thanks guys.

So, from the church past the farm to the wood, through to South Cubbington Wood, up to Cubbington itself through fields of rape seed, turn right across more fields and a road to reach the edge of North Cubbington Wood, then back to the church via the road. A nice walk, and no more than 90 minutes of anyone's time.

And what did I see?

Well, the highlights of a rewarding walk were a bird, a flower and mammal. The bird was spotted early on the walk - a bright Yellow Wagtail in a horse / sheep field near the farm. This a wonderful little bird which I always expect / hope to find and then rarely do - in fact I've been successful only two or three times in my five or so years on this patch. I was thrilled.

Then into the wood, where I found myself surrounded by the most wondrous carpet of blue. These, of course, were bluebells, the original English variety and splendid to behold, whichever way one turned.

And finally the mammal. As I paused to read a sign near the north tip of North Cubbington Wood and rabbit darted to the edge of the wood, saw me, skidded, turned and darted back, pursued by a beautiful Red Fox. With respect to the rabbit, it was the Fox that wins my 'mammal of the day' nomination - what an animal.

So there you have it - a lovely walk, great flora and fauna, beautiful surroundings, and an environmental success story to boot. I really must get to Cubbington Wood more often.

Bird / Flower / Mammal of the Day: Yellow Wagtail (Motacilla flava) / Common (English) Bluebell (Hyacinthoides non-scripta) / Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes), all brought great joy to my morning.

Immigrant Song

I had the misfortune to have a BNP leaflet pushed through my letter box the other day - a misfortune indeed since no one wants to find a pile of excrement on their doormat first thing in the morning (or indeed at any other time of the day). After allowing myself the briefest moment to be thoroughly sickened by the lies and bile, I did the only thing a decent human being could - I tore it into tiny pieces and submitted it for compost. At least some good may eventually come of it in this form.

I only mention the incident because it came back to me when I realised I had just spent the most beautiful Warwickshire morning surrounded by African immigrants. Birds of course, and I'm pretty sure even the BNP doesn't object to bird migration, but who knows what idiocy their stupidity and lack of basic human decency might lead them to?

Anyhow, back to the birds. Brandon Marsh was alive with recently arrived migrants. The warblers included Reed, Sedge and Willow, Chiffchaffs and Whitethoats, as well as the resident Cetti's. All were singing loudly, but sadly there were no Grasshopper Warblers reeling along with them. Over the Newlands reedbeds I saw Buzzards being mobbed and a pair of Kestrels courting, and then I headed off to the pools.

Here I found more recent arrivals - a Ringed Plover and a pair of Little Ringed Plover, a pair of Oystercatchers, three Redshanks, five or six Common Terns, and a small flock of Sand Martins. It was a lovely morning with good weather, good company and plenty of variety. And I finished on a thoroughly 'English' note - my breakfast being of the full English variety. Nothing wrong with this sudden outbreak of patriotism of course, because patriotism isn't the same thing at all as nationalism - as has been often said, a patriot loves his country while a nationalist hates the other person's country. It is a distinction people would do well to remember before stuffing leaflets through my letterbox.

Bird of the day: Little Ringed Plover (Charadrius dubius), a beautifully marked migrant wader with a striking orange eye ring.

The nature garden

When I bought my house six or seven years ago, part of the appeal was the garden. It's a decent size, it was then a blank canvas (entirely laid to lawn except for a couple of mature trees at the bottom), and it is close enough to open farmland to have decent potential as a nature garden.

Now, all those year's later, I'm finally getting to grips with it. The smart family end near the house looks OK, with flowers and shrubs doing what they are supposed to. But it's the nature area that excites me: with wildflowers like Red Campion in abundance; a mature and natural-looking pond stuffed to the brim with newts, frogs, toads and myriad insects; bird visitors aplenty; Pipistrelle Bats in the summer months; and the odd surprise every now and again.

We've enjoyed a couple of those surprises in the past few days. Our irregular Mallard pair (a sure sign of a mature pond!) have been back more and more frequently, much to the delight of Charlie; and then tonight I got dragged outside into the garden by my wife to investigate a loud rythmic snuffling sound. Fortunately it wasn't the rapid dog we both feared - instead by torchlight we found a pair of amorous hedgehogs availing themselves of the shrub bed nearest the house. I hadn't actually seen a hedgehog in the garden for a few years, so I'm delighted to have them back.

Mammal of the day: European Hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus), Britain's only spiny mammal. Generally solitary and non territorial, but mighty loud when 'courting'.

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Blackcaps at Leam Valley

April 2009 has been far from the cruelest month in Warwickshire - despite the occasional storm it has generally been warm and bright, a welcome respite after the relentless grey of a British winter.

Today has been no exception - to prove the point, I have just come in from pottering around the garden in shorts. Taking advantage of the unseasonable pleasantry, I was out this morning for a spot of birdwatching at Leam Valley.

The changes from my last visit were largely in the type of birdsong. The Great Tits and Song Thrushes that dominate in late winter / early spring have now been replaced by Blackcaps and Wrens, plus the relentless Chiffchaffs.

In fact today was the day of the Blackcap, with five singing males all giving good views, and one shuffling past with a female in tow.

The Blackcaps were the highlight of a generally average trek round the reserve itself, so I headed off down to Offchurch Bury for a bit of variety - and was instantly rewarded with a Green Woodpecker, a male Bullfinch, a cock Yellowhammer, a couple of Skylarks and an unidentified pair of wagtails (I see a fair few greys down there, but this looked to have a shorter tail - perhaps it was the yellow I've looked there for in vain for so long).

Bird of the Day: Blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla), a common and distinctive warbler with a lovely little song that sounds a little like a hurried and confused Blackbird (to my ears anyway).

Essex boy - Abberton and Fingringhoe

I took full advantage of a weekend in Essex with trips to Abberton Reservoir on Saturday and Fingringhoe reserve on Sunday.

The weather was grey, cool, windy and even momentarily wet on Saturday morning, although it did brighten significantly by lunchtime. The hostile weather meant that standing on the causeways wasn't much fun, so although I lingered long on the first (finding nothing), I paused only briefly on the second. I soon scuttled back however, when the visitor centre boards told me there were four summer-plumaged Slavonian Grebes close by!

Sure enough, I found three of the four just 20m or so from the roadside, and braved the wind long enough to admire this showy little specimen and take a (very bad) record photo through a furiously vibrating 'scope.

All in all it was a grand morning, with 50 or so species on show including: Cettis Warbler, Bullfinch, Linnet (a pair of a bird I don't often see these days), Ruddy Duck (among a full complement of wildfowl including lingering Goldeneye), Egyptian Goose and a fantastic low-flying displaying piping pair of Oystercatchers.

Sunday was a completely different day, with beautiful weather from first to last. It made for a virtually perfect morning's birding, from which highlights included: a Sparrowhawk being mobbed by a Carrion Crow for 10 minutes or more, eight or more little Egrets on the salt marshes, Red-legged Partridges courting loudly and visibly all around me, a flock of Sandmartins overhead (my first this year), Blackcaps singing all around, and (out in the estuary) big flocks of Black-tailed Godwit, Grey Plover, Redshanks, gulls of all kind, Black Brant Geese, Curlews and Oystercatchers.

Bird of the weekend: Slavonian Grebe (Podiceps auritus), only my second sighting, and my first in 'proper' plumage. A small but striking grebe with wonderful yellow 'ears'.

Crossover birds

More 'good birding without going birding' in March.

This is a great time of year, because it includes those few days, perhaps even a few weeks, when the various migrant types 'cross over' - that is to say the first of our summer migrants arrive while the last of our winter migrants are still with us.

That means that I can be welcomed on to the Preston Bagot canal towpath by one of the year's early Chiffchaffs (my single favourite thing about spring) and then enjoy the spectacle of 30 or more raucous Fieldfare flying over nearby fields. The Chiffchaff has just arrived, the Fieldfare will soon be heading north, but today they are both with me in this little part of rural Warwickshire.

Elsewhere I continue to see birds wherever I go - a Red-legged Partridge by the A45 / M42 roundabout nr Balsall Common; a Treecreeper landing just feet away from me on a lunchtime stroll (and a second - sadly dead - Treecreeper outside J's office); Lapwing wheeling over fields around Warwickshire, and also low over a Newbury road as I headed down for a meeting; Buzzards pretty much wherever I look (by far our most common raptor around here); and my first Swallow of spring, a notably early specimen on a telegraph wire outside Henley-in-Arden today (31st March). In fact, the Swallow beat my previous earliest Swallow by a full two days.

Bird of the post: Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica), the most elegant of the hirundine species, and a proverbial harginger of summer. 31st March is pushing it a bit to claim summer, but it's still a wonderful sign of what's just round the corner.

Henley-in-Arden miscellanea

Occasionally I get away from my desk for a stroll at lunchtime. Even more occasionally I find a bird (or two) of interest. Last week's finds made it a red-letter week indeed.

First of all, a quick turn down by the river (just downstream of the medical centre, if you know the area) turned up the male Mandarin Duck which had been reported a few days earlier. OK, so it's not exactly a native, and I wasn't the first to find it (that shouldn't matter, but it just does) - but even so, it was a mighty fine sight to brighten up a grey February lunch hour.

Slightly more 'authentic' was the walk I took, a couple of days later, down the canalside from nearby Preston Bagot. There was plenty about - three or four Great Spotted Woodpecker vyed for territory and attention (I suspect it wasn't me they were trying to impress); two Buzzards tried to continue with their circling, soaring courtship while ignoring the irritation of mobbing crows; Wrens hopped through the tangled undergrowth; and Long-tailed Tits flitted pinkly (that may not be an actual word) through the trees overhead.

But the star birds of the day, as so often at this time of the year, were the Siskins, in this case perhaps 80 or 100, my biggest flock of the year. These beautiful little finches fed furiously on alders at the canal's edge, allowing me to watch for many minutes until a passing jogger caused them to erupt in a explosion of pingy squeaks (it's not easy explaining sounds with words, so just bear with me here).

Bird of the week: Siskin (Carduelis spinus), a most exquisite little winter visitor to these parts, most commonly found feeding on alder trees near water.

Leam Valley

A quick Sunday morning stroll round LeamValley today.

Plenty of Song Thrushes letting rip (approx half a dozen), along with Great Tit song everywhere. Other highlights include a tree full of Siskins (the riverside alders as normal), a Kestrel, a Buzzard, a male Bullfinch, a pair of Tufted Ducks on the scrape, and a not-often-seen Coal Tit near the hide.

Bird of they day: Coal Tit (Parus ater), dullish brown tit which is locally common, but I don't see enough of them to get bored!

Brandon by bike

Brandon Marsh, the flagship reserve of Warwickshire Wildlife Trust, lies on the eastern edge of Coventry, about 12 miles from my home. Perfect cycling range in fact.

So, with a free weekend to spare and no car, it was the perfect opportunity to test the route I had planned - out via Offchurch, Cubbington and Baginton, and back via Weston-under-Weatherly, Hunningham and Offchurch. I'm delighted to report it's a great route - a few hills to test old knees, of course, but basically fairly smooth, with not too much traffic on a Sunday morning and plenty of countryside to enjoy. 23 miles at 11.5 mph is a pretty good workout in my book.

Cycling really does make the journey as enjoyable as the destination. I passed fields full of Fieldfare, Redwing and Starling, a Yellowhammer popped up among the Blue and Great Tits, and Buzzards, Kestrels and Jays passed close by. Once I got to Brandon I found a reserve only just 'waking up' from its icy weeks, the water still milky white in places and one or two of the smaller waters still iced over.

From East Marsh Hide I watched a full array of 'winter ducks' - Tufties, Mallards, plenty of Shoveller, a couple of Pochard, a few Teal and the odd Gadwall here and there. Among them were the usual Coots, Moorhens, Greylag and Canada Geese, Black-headed Gulls and Cormorants. But there were also less common birds to arouse the interest - a pair of Goldeneye, three Snipe, a Cettis calling behind the Carlton Hide, and, from the same hide, a lazy close fly-by by a female Sparrowhawk.

On the way back to the visitor centre (where I enjoyed a full English breakfast with which I won't bore you) I heard a tiny little sound which turned out to be a Water Rail foraging among the watery undergrowth. Since I haven't seen one for at least a year (too lazy to look up exactly how long), I was absolutely delighted. Even if I did have a 12 mile ride home to look forward to.

Bird of the day: Water Rail (Rallus aquaticus), a beautifully marked bird which is reasonably common but scarcely seen, due to its secretive habits and love of densely-packed reedbeds. See here for details on the Water Rail from the RSPB.

Birds, birds everywhere

No birding of late, and horrendous weather - snow, ice, wind and rain. But there have certainly still been plenty of birds around.

The garden has seen an infrequent Fieldfare over the last week, a very rare event indeed. Among the flocks of other birds driven in to gardens by the cold weather has been a male Blackcap, and we have also enjoyed a pair of Song Thrushes, hopefully getting ready to breed nearby.

At work I have seen a Treecreeper down by the River Alne (along with Redwing, Long-tailed Tits and Chaffinches aplenty), Bullfinches in the trees outside my office, and yesterday a Goldcrest in the clematis hanging to the side of our building.

Meanwhile, a drive through any country lane in Warwickshire at the moment is likely to take you past Lapwing wheeling low overhead and Buzzards sitting by the roadside waiting for the big chill to end.

Bird of the week: Fieldfare (Turdus pilaris), the largest thrush, a superbly coloured bird found more often in the open fields and trees around my house than in the garden itself. A welcome splash of colour in a drab grey February.

Back at Napton

After a couple of hundred miles, the legs and the lungs are starting to cope better with cycling. This is great news - it gives me more range, a more enjoyable experience, and of course more opportunities to combine cycling and birding.

Today was brilliant. My trip from Radford Semele to Napton and back was 24 miles in all, cycled at an average speed of 10.8mph, up almost a full mph since I started cycling. I saw loads of birds as I travelled (including a patch first), enjoyed a nice walk around Napton Reservoir in the middle, and then arrived home in time for tea and buns - hurrah!

So, to the birds. As I left Offchurch and headed for Hunningham, I saw a flock of 200+ Lapwing in the fields away to my right. When I stopped to watch these, I was extremely excited to find an even larger flock of Golden Plover swaying and swarming above the Lapwing. In fact I stopped to watch their interplay for more than 10 minutes - these were the first Golden Plover I had ever found on the patch.

Moving on I found a couple of Buzzards, plenty of Fieldfare and Redwing, hedges full of tits and finches, Skylarks singing, great views of a Meadow Pipit on a roadside spoil heap, and a Great Spotted Woodpecker drumming.

Once at Napton Reservoir, things looked quiet at first - the usual Tufted Ducks, Coots and Mallards, with nine dozy Pochard lazing in reeds at the back and a single pair of Gadwall. But then a Cormorant flew over, causing me to look up and see at the same time a pair of Snipe circling fairly low over the reservoir. They continued for 30 seconds or so, giving great views of their distinctive profile before diving into the reedbed.

As I left I found Bullfinches in the hedgerow, and then two pairs of Mistle Thrush (one at Stockton, one at Long Itchington) on the way home. Top cycling, top birding.

Bird of the day: Golden Plover (Pluvialis apricaria), a real winter treat for inland birders. These waders are often found with Lapwing in large numbers, feeding on winter fields and flying overhead in tightly co-ordinated flocks if startled.

Abberton's unexpected Bittern

A trip to my mother-in-law's in Essex meant a free Saturday morning to enjoy the best that Essex birding could offer. And in her neck of the woods, that really comes down to a choice of three - Fingringhoe, Blackwater Estuary or Abberton.

I had no plans to leave early, but when I finally did get up just before 8am, the weather made up my mind for me - it was wet and it was windy, and the two coastal destinations were just to exposed to appeal. So Abberton Reservoir it was - a bit of shelter, a few hides, and plenty of wintering birds. In the event, I needn't have worried about the weather - it brightened up beautifully. But I'm still glad I chose Abberton.

From the first causeway across this mighty reservoir I spied plenty of Goldeneye, Pochard, Tufties, a huge 'raft' of Coots and plenty more... including a cluster of birders standing together on the second causeway, a half mile or so away. This could only mean one thing - something was afoot.

So I drove round, hopped out, and heard one of the birders telling someone: "and just track along the line of reeds to the left of the weir." So, still not knowing what I was looking for, I dutifully obliged and locked straight on to a Bittern! Magic, one of Britain's rarest birds, a real favourite with most birders - and unlike most of the elusive little so-and-so's, this one was right on the edge of the small reedbed. I just about managed a record snap through the scope, and headed off a happy man.

The day was off to a flier, and it continued to be a belter. OK, so I couldn't find any of the reported 6 Smews (it's a big water, so it's not as easy as it sounds), but I did find Siskin at the visitor centre, more than 120 Curlew in fields nearby, a fabulous glittering flock of Lapwing, a close-to Redshank, scores of Wigeon, Teal, Goldeneye etc, Bullfinches, Goldcrest, Green Woodpecker, winter thrushes, 20 or so Sky Larks tumbling low over a ploughed field, and, my personal favourite after the Bittern, a pair of Stonechats on a reservoir-side fence. Brilliant birding.

Bird of the day: Bittern (Botaurus stellaris), with a special mention to the Stonechat. The Bittern is a smallish brown heron which was nearly hunted into extinction in Britain, but hangs on as a breeding bird in a small number of (mainly East coast) reed beds. These are supplemented in winter by incoming continental birds escaping the worst of the mainland freeze. They are rare, incredibly hard to see in the reeds (just check out the camouflage some time, and a favourite for most birders.

Red-necked Grebe (at last)

Certain birds have always eluded me (a lot, now I come to think about it) - partly it's about being a rubbish birder, partly it's a lack of dedication to the cause, and partly it's a pig-headed refusal to twitch anything further than a mile from my home.

However, on a freezing cold and very windy morning at Draycote Reservoir I finally got another one off that 'elusive' list - Red-necked Grebe. Tucked into a line of Great Crested Grebes it was distinctive enough with its buff neck and head and yellow bill contrasting nicely with the white / pink of the Great Cresteds.

Apart from that I got a few Goosanders, a couple of Ruddy Ducks (not seen any for ages), freezing cold feet and tired legs from cycling into the bitter headwind. Still, the life list is up to a desultory 206 now - it'll be 250 by the time I reach 60 (which is a few year's off yet).

Bird of the Day: Ooh, let me think. I reckon that'd be Red-necked Grebe (Podiceps grisigena), an occasional winter visitor to inland waters and a welcome sight for sore, cold, watery winter eyes.

Of biking, biting cold and bank voles

The absolutely freezing weather continued into this weekend ('just like winters used to be'), but a New Year's Resolution is a New Year's Resolution - so on to the bike for a bit of exercise and birding.

Friday saw the big ride, a 25 mile round trip to Napton Reservoir via Hunningham and the back roads east of Leamington. It was an exhausting but exhilarating experience - the exhausting being the cycling, and the exhilirating being the birding. I am a total convert - cycling is the only way to bird. You get to see so much more than you do by any other mode of travel - before I'd got anywhere near Napton I'd enjoyed hundreds of Fieldfare, Redwing, Bullfinch, Goldfich and various LBJs flitting from tree and bushes around me, close encounters with Buzzards, Kestrels and Green Woodpeckers, Lapwings flying over Offchurch, and... well, you get the picture.

At the reservoir itself, the cold had left most of the water frozen over. Concentrated in the remaining open water was an unusually high number of Wigeon (around 40) and Mute Swans (14), as well as a few Pochard, Gadwall, Tufties, Coots and so on. The most unusual sighting was the Harris Hawk which was out for a spot of fresh air with its owner - I often see unusual birds at Napton, but sadly they never seem to be official (i.e. legitimately wild). Never mind, it was still a superb bird to look at.

After a day off to recuperate some tired limbs, I set out today on a more modest 12 mile loop to Ufton Fields. The hedgerows were again alive, with Bullfinches, Jays and Fieldfares all easy to spot with their brightly coloured rumps. At Ufton itself the water was nearly all frozen, but huddled in front of the IBM hide was a record number of Teal (24), along with 30 Mallards, a couple of Coot and a Moorhen.

Other moments of note were my first drumming Great Spotted Woodpecker of the year and a Bank Vole which ran out and sat just in front of me for two or three minutes, allowing me best-ever views. Magic.

Glad to be off that saddle though.

Bird of the day: Bank Vole (Clethrionomys glareolus) - yeah, I know, but it was great. Told from the Field (aka Short-tailed) Vole by its tail length. My one was over half the length of the animal's body, so definitely Bank. If it had been 1/3 or shorter it would have been a Field Vole. Other contenders too numerous to mention - Great Spotted Woodpecker drumming, record numbers of Teal and Wigeon on the two waters, great close views of roadside Buzzards etc.

Leam Valley in December

Leam Valley was quiet this morning, but it was warm, bright and I found enough to lighten the winter blues a little.

At the riverside alders I heard, then saw, three Siskin darting around among the Blue Tit flocks. The scrape appeared at first to have only two herons on it - then, after ten minutes of careful scanning I found a male Teal tucked into the far reedbeds (these are growing quite nicely now).

A little further along on the same side I found a Grey Wagtail, my attention drawn to this tiny bird by a big, showy Jay.

And moving down to the weir at Offchurch Bury I was pleased to find two winter Cormorants and another Grey Wagtail.

Along with these highlights were scattered Redwing, Fieldfare, plenty of Robins, Blackbirds and Dunnocks, tit flocks and gulls overhead. And as I left I was sung on my way by a huge flock of Goldfinch in the car park trees. Lovely.

Bird of the day: Common Teal (Anas crecca), a lovely little duck - given that the male bird has such vivid colouring it did a surprisingly good job of lurking and then disappearing completely today.

Brandon is flooded

I took a quick trip round Brandon in December - not because I was in a hurry but because most of the site was very, very flooded.

Unable to get anywhere near the East Marsh track and hides (generally everyone's favourites, and the most productive), I went first to the new hide (can't remember it's name) and then to the Wright Hide.

The best bird of the short morning was a beautiful male Goldeneye right in front of Wright Hide, much to the joy of a photographer with whom I was sharing the hide. I was also happy to bump into a confiding robin - so confiding in fact that I was able to take repeated flash photographs of him with my little Canon G9.

Bird of the day: Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula), a striking addition to our winter wildfowl.

Napton Reservoir - Sexy?

After last weekend's fox-related excitement at one of Warwickshire's best-known reserves, I found myself back on patch at Napton Reservoir this morning. And I found myself thinking: why are some place 'sexy' and not others (I hasten to add I mean this in a birding sense).

There are some reserves and locations that are heaving with birders day in and day out. Then there are others, such as Napton, where there are virtually none. Obviously a lot of this is down to what people think they might find in a given location. But a lot of that feeling is driven by a site's historical record of turning up 'good' birds. And, as the FTSE and housing markets have been helpfully showing us in recent weeks, past performance is no guarantee of future returns.

Today at Napton turned up nothing new or unexpected, the Cape Shelducks having moved on (see photos a couple of posts back, including the comments). But then nor did Ladywalk last week, Brandon Marsh on a great many occasions before that, and so on with a number of our better known reserves. Yes, I know each of those turns up the occasion 'mega' rare bird, but then so do most places if you watch them long enough (I refer you to Napton's greatest recent hit, a Ring-necked Duck).

So, there you go. Well known reserves are a con, past performance is no guarantee of future returns, go and find your own obscure location and watch it until something rare turns up (and then email me and tell me where to find it).

Still, on the bird front, I at least found pretty much everything I would expect to at Napton and then Ufton Fields. In among 90 or so Coot were eight Shovellers, half a dozen Gadwall, a pair of Wigeon, just over 40 Tufted Ducks, Mallards lurking everywhere, a Great Crested Grebe, six young Mute Swans with two adults, 50 or so Common Gulls among the hundreds of Black-headed, a Great Heron, trees and bushes full of Fieldfare, Redwing and Blackbirds, and great many crows (Carrion, Rook and Jackdaw), a few of which were lazily mobbing a Buzzard. At Ufton I found the smaller birds - Willow, Coal, Blue and Great Tits (see 'fighting' photo), Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Chaffinch, a fly-by Sparrowhawk and a Green Woodpecker.

Bird of the day: Shoveller (Anas clypeata), a favourite of mine among the ducks. Most easily and frequently seen in the autumn and winter months, it is clearly identified by its bright terracotta and white patched plumage (male) and of course its distinctive shoveller bill.

Foxed - a photo story

This is a story about a fox, a helpful man and me.

I first noticed the fox when it popped its head up a hundred metres or so from the hide in which I was sitting. Excellent I thought, and took its picture (picture 1). Then it started to circle a little closer, and I took its picture again. My best ever picture of a fox, I thought (picture 2).

When someone else climbed into the hide, I pointed out the fox. After watching me take a few more shots he announced that he knew a way of 'calling them in'. And, to my delight and amazement, he put his hand to his lips, made a strange sqeaking noise, and in came the fox.

It ran towards us a great speed (picture 3), paused to watch us for a moment (picture 4), and then paraded right in front of us (picture 5), before turning tail and trotting off.

So whoever you were, thanks fella. It was a pretty grim morning (showers and a chill wind), there were no interesting birds to capture the imagination, but the fox made it magical.

Ideas anyone?

A quick trip to Napton Reservoir and Ufton Fields on Sunday turned up something exciting and new - sadly I've no idea what!

Although the weather had warmed a little after our recent cold snap, it was still bitterly cold at Napton - to be fair, it pretty much always is. It attracts wind like nowhere else I know.

However, the first thing I saw when I arrived was enough to take my mind off the cold - three extremely unusual ducks. I didn't recognise them, I've checked all of my books since, and I still have no idea what they were. Escapees I'm sure, but escaped what? Any ideas anyone - Ruddy Shelducks with black rather than red heads is my best description (sorry about the quality of the photo, I only had a compact camera with me). Red body, beige rump, black tail, black head, white face with a black eye.

Elsewhere on the water was a good collection of winter birds - 20+ Wigeon, perhaps 30 Tufted Ducks, a couple of Great Crested and Little Grebes, 75+ Coots and the usual crowd of Black-headed Gulls with a few Common Gulls scattered about. I was also pleased to see my first big flocks of Fieldfare this year, and good numbers of Redwing flying over.

Ufton, by way of contrast, was deathly quiet. A couple of Green Woodpeckers, a few tits, and... that's all folks!

Bird of the day: Wigeon (Anus penelope), a striking (mainly) winter duck with striking colours and a distinctive wee-oo call.

Ufton Fields

I took the bike up to Ufton Fields this afternoon, and discovered just how steep that 1 in 10 hill is!

2pm isn't really prime birding time, but a morning visit wasn't really an option with some pretty grisly weather. By the time I did eventually get out the clouds had cleared and it was a pretty nice afternoon.

The colours at Ufton are turning decidely autumnal now, with lots of gold in particular. Among the birds I did find were some of the more colourful residents - Bullfinches, Goldfinches, a Green Woodpecker and a Jay. All of them made for a pleasant spectacle in the late autumn sun.

It was one of those afternoons where the birding takes second place to a nice walk, but it was none the worse for that.

Bird of the day: Jay (Garrulus glandarius), a real favourite at this time of year. Hard to believe that I wasn't aware of having seen one until my early 30s - I now tend to see several a day at this time of year, as they fly overhead building up their acorn reserves for the winter. They're big, they're noisy, they're pink, blue, white and black - and yet an amazing number of people simply never notice them.

On my bike

My latest piece of birding technology isn't a new camera or lens, nor binoculars, a telescope, a tripod or any especially waterproof / camouflaged/ rustle-free / warm outdoor clothing (although heaven knows I've spent enough on each of those over the years).

It is in fact a bike - a modern hybrid type thing designed to whisk me swiftly and effortlessly to various parts of my birding patch, especially when I don't have access to the family car.

And it's great. OK, I can't claim to be swift, and it certainly isn't effortless (I'm working on the assumption that it is going to get easier). But with a little effort I can get it as far as Draycote Reservoir and back, a not-inconsiderable distance of 30+ miles. And although my first such trip left me little energy for birding, I at least managed to find a Little Gull (first of the year), a Shag (a first for me in Warwickshire), a couple of Grey Wagtails, a few Lapwings and a Green Woodpecker - sufficient to lift my soul for the return journey at any rate.

Leam Valley, Ufton Fields, Cubbington Woods and Offchurch are all within easy range, Napton Reservoir is achievable, and Draycote is there for those very energetic days. My next calculation is whether I'll make it to Brandon and back.

Bird of the day: Little Gull (Larus minutus), a lovely little bird which flits low over the surface of the water and resembles a tern. Young ones such as this have a distintive 'W' marking on their back.

Restored and refreshed at Brandon Marsh

Ah the glory of an autumn morning (even if it is only August). This was just what I needed to reconnect to Warwickshire birding.

At 7am, with the air mild and a light mist promising to burn off sometime soon, I finally made time for a decent trip out, and decided to head to Brandon Marsh and see how the early autumn birding season was starting to shape up.

(As I think I've probably explained before, birding has three seasons, not four - there being no such thing as summer (this in an entirely personal calendar and in no way reflects the views of the birding world at large). In this part of the world, spring starts in April, when migrants start to arrive and breeding kicks off. That runs through to the arrival of autumn in early August, when breeding is finish, summer migrants start to leave and winter migrants start to arrive. Once all the winter migrants are here, say late November, then winter is here until April again. If there is a summer, it is the few boring weeks in July when nothing changes, nothing happens.)

Well, this morning was classic early autumn. Warm and humid, rain later, early mist, dew on myriad spiders' webs, beech masts falling on my head, Jays and Squirrels working like billio to stash food for the winter, and some notably autumn migrants / early winter visitors. These birds included a Green Sandpiper on Teal Pool, plenty of Teal and Shoveller, a large post-breeding flock (400+) of Lapwing, and a very early flock of 20+ Siskins working their way through the beech and alder trees near River Pool.

Alongside these were some lingering traces of summer, a few dragonflies in particular, and plenty of young Swallows getting ready for the long journey to southern Africa. And many of the resident birds were out and about too - a Sparrowhawk as I pulled into the car park, Great Spotted Woodpecker and Treecreeper in New Hare Covert, and a few singing (but lurking) Cetti's Warblers.

Bird of the day: Siskin (Carduelis spinus), this lovely little winter visitor is a small, streaky yellow finch with an addiction to alder trees and a tendency to gather in large, easy to spot flocks of a dozen or more birds. Generally I've tended to find them arriving from October onwards, August 31st is my earliest in Warwickshire by some considerable margin.

Pensthorpe photos

While on a family trip to Norwich last weekend, we took the opportunity to visit Pensthorpe, the nature reserve at which this year's Springwatch was filmed.

Nice place for a family trip, and although the wild birds were quiet (time of year really), the aviaries, collections and conservation programmes were pretty interesting, and of course great to photograph. Recommended to birders with families, and here are a few of the photos.

All quiet on the Leam Valley front

Managed to find time this morning to remind myself how quiet a local nature reserve can be in August , with Leam Valley no exception.

It was a lovely morning, with some of the best (and above all driest) weather we've seen in weeks. Sadly, no birds.

Wellllll, that's not really true of course. Loads of birds around, just hunkered down so low and quiet you deserve an award for each one you see. My big hope was the scrape, perhaps good for a returning sandpiper or maybe a wandering egret. Fat chance. A few young Coots and Moorhens mooched around, with the odd Magpie or Wood Pigeon passing, along with a few hybrid ducks.

Back in the woods I did at least manage to find a Chaffinch, a few Goldcrest, Long-tailed Tits, Blue Tits and Great Tits (by far the most visible and audible bird at this time of year). A few birds were vocal enough to find - a couple of raucous Jays, a Green Woodpecker and a Buzzard mewing overhead. The foliage all around was so lush and dense (after weeks and weeks of rain) that even when a huge Grey Heron flew into a tree I quickly lost it!

Bird of the Day: Not even worth nominating one. More a walk than a birding trip.

(More) Accidental Birding

Absolutely no birding to speak of in recent weeks, but that doesn't mean I haven't seen or heard any birds.

It's one of the great joys of birdwatching that they are there wherever you go. Lunchtime walks in Henley-in-Arden regularly turn up Green Woodpeckers, Buzzards and the competing songs of Whitethroat, Chiffchaff and Willow Warblers, not to mention a particularly energetic Song Thrush near my office window.

In the garden we get low flying Buzzards, Greenfinch and Goldfinch, 'our' House Sparrows and Starlings, plus Rooks and Jackdaws passing overhead.

And on a city break in Liverpool last weekend, I heard Goldfinches singing all around Albert Docks (not sure why, but the place was awash with them), a single Cormorant swimming in the Dock itself, and this best-ever photo opportunity of a Jay in a cemetary next to the Anglican Cathedral.

No birding then, but plenty of birds.

Bird of the week: Jay (Garrulus glandarius), big, colourful and common, but suprisingly hard to get good views of, let alone photograph.

An 'Accidental' Yorkshire Birder

A week-long family holiday on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales (not far from Haworth and Skipton) presented me with few opportunities for 'real' birding, but its amazing what you can find with just a few country walks (even with a pushchair and a hyperactive two-year-old)...

The tally for the trip was 54 species in all, reasonably respectable for an inland location in June.

Around the wooded valley where we stayed there were Green and Great Spotted Woodpeckers, Coal Tits at our bird feeder, the occasional moorland Curlew bubbling overhead, and various common garden and woodland birds all around.

The two star finds so close to 'home' were both local specialities - a pair of Dippers and my first ever badger. I found the former as it brought food into a nest underneath a nearby waterfall (keeping a very safe distance to avoid disturbance), and the latter fed outside our window most nights - a big male animal with no apparent fear of the solar night lights.

A nearby estate (St Ive's in Bingley) offered a few more warblers (Chiffchaff, Willow and Blackcap), and good views of Mistle Thrush - but sadly not the Goosander that had been reported as breeding there in recent months.

And on two trips to the moors, we were able to find more Curlews, another Dipper, Sand Martins, Oystercatchers, Grey Wagtails, Skylarks, plenty of Meadow Pipits, and another of my favourite birds - a Wheater, again busy bringing food to and from a nest.

Bird of the Week: Dipper (Cinclus cinclus), an old friend on this stretch of water, a striking bird with enough character and interesting behaviour to keep any birdwatcher happy for hours.

Another rainy Bank Holiday in Leamington Spa

The May Bank Holidays have lived up to all the cliches - roads full of traffic, queues in the car parks of DIY stores, and endless rain. Fortunately we birders are made of stern stuff...

Actually I generally avoid birding in the rain at all cost. I think it's an age thing - as a younger man I could be found trekking across mountain ranges in the foulest of weather, but these days I'm more inclined to sit it out and wait for a resumption of drier weather.

Sadly, with nothing but rain forecast for the rest of the long weekend, today presented me with little choice. So having dragged out my old wet weather gear (waterproof jacket, trousers and silly waterproof Aussie-style hat), I set off for a walk to, and round, Leam Valley.

It had actually dried up a little by the time I arrived, and a few of the residents were taking the opportunity for a sing-song - Whitethroat, Blackbirds, Robins, three Chiffchaff, a couple of Song Thrush and Dunnock. When I arrived at the scrape, the drizzle had started to fall once more, so I settled into the hide with some relief. And it was nice to see the scrape about as busy as it gets.

A pair of Mute Swans and their neighbours the Canada Geese both had youngsters in tow - three and four respectively. Two Swallows flew low over the water throughout my stay, joined periodically by a few Swifts and House Martins. Two adult Grey Herons watched on impassively as a youngster stalked methodically around the edge. And all the time, a little colony of Reed Warblers chirruped away, flitting from reedbed to trees and back again.

But I forgot to mention my star bird! Although I come to it last, I actually saw it first, before I even got the reserve - and in fact saw it twice. First, as I was walking out of Radford Semele, I looked up just as its silhouette swept across Lewis Road. "Surely that's a Hobby," I thought to myself as it attempted to pluck a House Sparrow from a rooftop. But with only the briefest of views I decided I couldn't be sure. Then, as I walked down Radford Road towards the reserve, I saw it again, attempting exactly the same manoeuvre with a Starling on a television aerial - again with no success.

It was my first Hobby of the year, and found hunting just a couple of hundred yards from home - a real bird of the day.

Bird of the day: Hobby (Falco subutteo), a sleek elegant falcon which hunts small birds, dragonflies and other large insects. When seen swooping in silhouette like today, it resembles a giant Swift with long, swept back wings.

Ufton, Harbury and Napton - in a gale!

Although this morning started a little gloomy and overcast, it quickly became a fine and breezy day - perfect for a little patch birding.

I started early at Ufton Fields, and enjoyed a very satisfying stroll. It was truly a walk for the ears, with plenty of strong birdsong to compensate for the difficulty of actually seeing birds in the full summer foliage.

Nearly all of the expected residents were in good voice - three or four Chiffchaffs and a couple of Willow Warblers, three Blackcaps and a couple of Garden Warblers, a Song Thrush, plenty of Robins, a couple of Blackbirds, Blue and Great Tits and the first Sedge Warblers I have ever found at Ufton (and a good number too, judging by the amount of song).

I did manage to lay binoculars on bird a few times though - always nice to see Bullfinchs and Jays, and the Coal Tits that I found were my first for quite a while.

So with 32 species under my belt, I moved on to Harbury Spoilbanks to find... nearly nothing. Highlight of this very short walk was the high density of singing Willow Warblers, perhaps five in just a couple of acres of wood and scrub.

Undeterred, I headed off to Napton Reservoir. Breezy at the best of times, the reservoir seemed to be enjoying a full-on gale this morning, so having given the water a cursory glance (Great Crested Grebe, a pair of Tufties, 20 or so Coots and a pair of Mute Swans with six young), I dived into the better protected fields.

This proved a good move, allowing me to warm up again and to find a few extra species - Swift, House Martin and Swallow, plenty of Skylarks, a Reed Bunting, and a lone Lapwing flying overhead. And then I walked back around the reservoir and left the fishermen to their hurricane.

Bird of the Day: Coal Tit (Periparus ater), a widespread and fairly common little bird, but not always easily found on my patch. It favours coniferous woods, and although it is a fairly drab member of the tit family, it is easily distinguished by its white striped nape. I found the photo above on Flickr by the way (yes, with a Creative Commons licence!). It was taken by simondbarnes, and is an absolute stunner. It's well worth visiting his photostream for plenty more great bird photography.

Sunshine in West Warwickshire

After a couple of less-than-glorious days in Warwickshire, today started bright and dry (abeit with a stiff cool breeze). Perfect for a morning's birding in West Warwickshire with my occasional birding companion Jon.

Although the main migrant passage seems to have quietened down in the last week or so (just about the same time as I resumed my county birding in fact!) there was still plenty on show for me to enjoy in the farmland, gravel pits and river pools that we visited.

There were plenty of waders on show, although none of the rarer migrants we might have hoped for - having not seen much in the county for six months or so, I was perfectly happy with a haul that included Little Ringed Plover, Ringed Plover, Common Sandpiper, Oystercatcher, Redshank and Lapwing. Overhead were very good numbers of Swifts, some House Martins and the residents of a decent Sand Martin colony.

Several Buzzards and Kestrel flew regularly overhead (although none of the Red-footed Falcons I have been told to look out for), and in the hedgerows and scrubs we gathered a decent haul of smaller birds - including Linnet, Lesser Whitethroat, Whitethroat, Garden Warbler, Blackcap, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Wren, Dunnock, Chaffinch, Sedge Warbler, Reed Bunting, Yellowhammer, Chiffchaff and Reed Warbler.

There were a few wildfowl species around - Mallards of course, plus Tufted Ducks, Gadwall and a lone Shelduck.

Add to that a smattering of other species - Grey Heron, Green Woodpecker, Coot, Canada Geese, Stock Dove, Blackbird, Wood Pigeon, Cormorant, Lesser Black-backed Gull and Pied Wagtail for example - and the chance to catch up on a little bit of local birding news from Jon, and you have my ideal kind of Sunday morning.

The photos show a view across the gravel pits, the patterning on some deep-drying mud, and part of the Sand Martin colony.

Bird of the Day: Linnet (Carduelis cannabina), a gorgeous little passerine which favours thick bushes and gorse - it's fairly common locally, but I rarely get close enough for a good look at its colours.

Leam Valley

This morning was my first real patch walk for months - up and out the house before 7am, and ready to enjoy some absolutely superb weather.

The temperature was warm, the light was lovely and the air was full of the sounds and scents of early summer. It was a real treat for the ears with Wren, Song Thrush, Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Chaffinch, Sedge Warbler and a lone Willow Warbler among my favourite vocalists - but the highlight was a sporadic-singing Cuckoo, my first at Leam Valley.

Other birds on show included a pair of Mistle Thrush, a pair of Tufted Ducks, a few Long-tailed Tit, a male Bullfinch, Green Woodpecker, Reed Bunting, Reed Warbler, a pair of Swallows low over the scrape, and a high solitary Swift.

But the real star was the reserve itself and the surrounding countryside - early morning sunlight streaming through the new leaves, the scrape bursting into life with reedbeds beginning to take hold, and yellow being this year's colour on the Offchurch Bury fields (rape seed after last year's blue linseed / flax). No photographs of birds then, but a few bits of scenery - the aforementioned sunlight through leaves, the view from the hide back towards the recently burned St Nicholas Church in Radford, and those fields of rapeseed.

Bird of the day: Blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla), a striking warbler with a wonderful mellifluous song.

A (very) little bit of April birding in Warwickshire

I've had very few opportunities for birding during April, but here's an overview (if only to keep my notes up to dates).

Early in the month I took a quick walk around Ufton Fields and enjoyed a good numbers of returning Chiffchaffs, a couple of Willow Warblers, a pair of Mistle Thrush, and views of Green and Great Spotted Woodpecker.

I followed this with a disappointing walk around Napton Reservoir - disappointing because the banks on one side have been completely cut back, leaving the reservoir looking barren and uninviting - and lacking in cover for the variety of birds that can normally be found there. At least I found my first Swallows of the year.

Back in Radford Semele, the Swallows, then House Martins then Swifts arrived (early, mid and late April respectively). My pond continues to attract a pair of Mallards, we have had plenty of Buzzard sightings low over the house, and my best garden birds were a Jay and a Goldcrest (the former a garden tick, and the latter a pretty rare visitor).

Away from my normal patch, my favourite find was a Lapwing flying low over fields near Claverdon, as I drove home from work one evening. I never grow tired of those.

And just before the end of the month, I managed to squeeze in a quick trip to Brandon Marsh, adding a bit of variety to my birding with a few waders (Common Sandpiper, Lapwing and Redshank), waterfowl (including a pair of Shelduck) and sundry others (plenty of Sand Martins).

Bird of the Month: Red Kite (Milvus milvus), a large number of which have been constant companions as I travelled up and down the M40 instead of doing any 'proper' birding!