April 3rd 2009

Dull and gloomy this morning so waited till this afternoon to visit the pond with Dave while Bob and Mark kindly kept me informed on the whereabouts of the Green-winged Teal for Dave as he needed it for his pond list, if it was around.
On our arrival just before 2pm it was in toft bay where we could scope it from the bank rather than miss out on the sunshine sat in the hide. The Red-necked Grebe was resting off toft bank, 3 of the Great-northern Divers were on the surface preening and at least 6 Buzzard and a Peregrine overhead. Orange Tip butterfly in country park.

Confirmation of the date and start times of the remaining walks I will be leading this year:-
30th April 11am
28th May 2pm
29th September 11am
29th October 11am
26th November 11 am
29th December 11am

Be aware of fishermen back casting on any of the banks at Draycote Water. We witnessed one guy have a hook pass inches from his face. Fishermen don't always look round to see if your passing.

The GWT was reported to be elusive this evening – hopefully its aggressive nature towards male European Teals and a likeness for the ladies means its on a mission more than a flight north.

Richard