Little Stint, cricket, cider & music

Video from Pophills

Little Stint & Ringed Plover

Best shot in dreadful light

Relections

Straight drive at Stourport

Dusty looking clearly shocked at his new opening partner

Nesting Lesser Black-backed Gull

Hobby

Close up House Martin

Look I'm busy

Group shot

Oddfest in full swing on way home

An extended weekend with the bonus of a Bank Holiday, was a good job given the agenda of plans. Saturday mornings visit resulted in both the main pit & Pophills being very quiet. After passing the old workings I found a group of House Martins collecting mud so I sat myself down and just waited for the birds. I had a great hour enjoying these birds at close quarters that nest in Dunnington. As I watched the birds, an alarm call prompted me to look up where I could see our first Hobby of the year. In the afternoon we headed to Stourport to watch the lads open the batting together for Feckenham in their Worcester league game. The lads had a 75 partnership with Dusty cracking 65, his second fifty in four games. The game finished in a amazing tie with Gussy taking a very important ninth wicket & then running out the last man. 

Jon did the honours on Sunday but didn't record anything other than the normal but recorded 10 Lapwing, 7 pairs of Meadow Pipits, Grey Wagtail, 5 singing Sedge Warblers, 3 Cuckoo's,  of butterflies included Painted Lady, two Brown Argus & a Grizzled Skipper, first for several years. 

I didn't return until Monday morning where I was pretty hopeful of a wader of some type given the bad weather. I wanted to see how our pair of Lesser Black-backed Gulls were progressing and evidence suggests they could be incubating eggs which would be a unique record away from the colonies in the big cities. 

After setting up my scope I picked up two Ringed Plovers on one of the islands & then our first Little Stint (our 127th species of the year after Terry recorded two Grey Partridges & Little Egret earlier in the morning). After sending a group text out the three birds took off but thankfully landed on Pophills were the Squire found them, Mike Inskip also joined us. 

Other sightings from last week included 4 Little Ringed Plover, a Ringed Plover on Tuesday (Mike Inskip). The Squire found a reeling Grasshopper Warbler by the river in Alcester, Andy Woodward found two Garden Warblers at Abbots Salford & three Mandarin ducks remain in the area.