It’s been a slow Spring with very mixed weather to greet our visitors from the south and I always wonder how those birds which are already into nesting and rearing young manage to cope with the unpredictable weather.
I’ve seen three wheatears up to now including one just a few yards from the house. She must have been very tired as she stayed in the same spot for a couple of hours. Bright coloured male common restarts have appeared in a couple of places and a few nightingales are singing. There seem to be plenty of cuckoos and hoopoes about and a few whitethroat but I’ve yet to hear an oriole this year.
On the nearby plains and close to the eoliens I have come across small flocks of yellow wagtails and there are several singing corn buntings there.
I’ve not travelled too far from my usual patch but a trip to the lakes produced several great crested grebes and a flock of forty cattle egrets. I saw no sign of the black or whiskered terns which have been reported from there on several occasions.
