April 15th 2012

Two Whitethroat down the Southam road then a look at the pond produced 20 Yellow Wagtail, 2 Wheatear, 2 Little Ringed Plover, Oystercatcher, Shoveler, 4 Gadwall, Goldeneye, Wigeon, 10 Teal and over 300 Sand Martin but very few Swallows or House Martins.
Napton Churchyard was tranquil and a delight to be out of the bitterly cold northerly wind but nothing showing so we shot out of there after a heads up from Richard regarding a Ring Ousel down the Flecknoe road but after an hour searching with just 5 Tree Sparrow, Yellow Wagtail and Swallow for our efforts we gave up and headed for the warmth of the Just So café before visiting Napton Reservoir.
The reservoir had 15 Yellowhammer, Grey Wagtail 10 Swallow, 4 House Martin and Willow Warbler till we got to the pointy bit where a stunning male Redstart was in the right hand field feeding from the fence posts which we soon had Keith on to. Also of interest was a grayish olive chiffy with very pale under parts seen for a short while with the redstart and 2 Orange-tip. On our way back to the car park 6 Buzzard were soaring overhead and a Curlew flew through.

record shot Redstart by Kieth Yates

Richard