April 30th 2010

A few Swifts and a pair of Sparrowhawk were over the garden this morning when Bob and Mark came round but I did not get out in the field till Dave and I went to Brandon Marsh this afternoon.

Pale Pinion by Bob Hazell

Spent some time chatting to Keith before finally catching up with the long staying group of Black-tailed Godwits (5) from Teal Hide then crossed over to East Marsh hide where there was a nice selection of waders present with 4 Snipe, 2 Oystercatcher, 6 Little Ringed Plover, 2 Dunlin and a Common Sandpiper. Our walk around the reserve was marred by the wind getting up and we failed to hear the Grasshopper Warblers but thanks to Keith our luck was in as we passed sheep field he got a message via Dennis to us to say the male Wheatear had reappeared with a male Whinchat so rushed to the coach parking lot and both bird were around with the Whinchat on a fence post and showing well.

record shot of Whinchat by Dennis Woodward

Also seen noted were Whitethroat, 6 Reed Warbler and plenty of Sand Martins with 20 Swift among them plus 4 Common Tern and earlier we had a Marsh Tit and Great-spotted Woodpecker while having coffee.
Back at Brandon Marsh at 7pm with Mark and his Dad joining up with Jeff and I soon located the Whinchat and Wheatear despite a heavy rain shower earlier. A look at the reserve added 2 Redshank, Kingfisher, Shelduck, Barn Owl and Cuckoo to my list and Common Tern had increased to 15.
Have finished the Israel report and placed it below this entry for easy finding.

Richard