Newcomers at Arrow Valley & Morton Bagot

 Red-legged Partridge

 Little Ringed Plover

 Yellowhammer

 Linnets

Morton Bagot

I headed to the north of the Arrow Valley Park on Saturday in the hope of seeing a Wheatear or two but sadly no arrivals. I did however catch a Red-legged Partridge on the edge of the field (quite difficult to see in the photo). With it being fairly quiet I opted to drive to the other side of Redditch to Morton Bagot.  A new arrival on the flash was the first Little Ringed Plover on the spring. The Green-winged Teal was still present but was keeping tucked up out of the chilling wind. 

On the walk back to the car along the hedgerows there were large number of Linnets and Yellowhammer calling. Despite my best efforts I couldn't get a good photo of the Yellowhammers as they seemed rather camera shy.

Red-necked Grebe at Pitsford Water

I always try and make a habit of looking at what birds have been reported locally before setting out on any days out. Mike Alibone from Northants birding kindly sent me a map of where a reported Red-necked Grebe had been located at Pitsford Water. Given it was only 20 minutes off route and how difficult these are to see I opted to stop off on my returning journey from Rutland Water.

The Grebe was exactly where described by Mike and the wind was blowing the Grebe to within 20 metres of the reservoir shore line. I'd only seen one of these Grebes before and it was a great addition to the year list as they are so difficult to find. 

Next migrants due will be Little Ringed Plover and Wheatears. Let us see what the weekend brings.

Ospreys return to Rutland

I couldn't resist a trip over to Rutland Water to watch the early Osprey return from their migration. Osprey 25, a Rutland Osprey fledged in 2010 was in the nest in Manton Bay. I managed to get a few images with the stately home in the back ground. It would have been nice for her to fish in front of the hide but she opted to head out to the deepest area of the lake.

Rutland Water is a huge reserve and you certainly need to be prepared to do some walking. Whilst the light was superb it was very windy which made it difficult to hold the camera on the scope.

I did a full circuit of the reserve and also a quiet spot which a local tipped me off about. This location once again produced a superb Red-breasted Meganser and a Long-tailed Duck whilst 300 Sand Martin made the most of the local insects. Other sighting of note were good numbers of Goldeneye and Wigeon, 5 Chiffchaff, Great Northern Diver, 2 Kestrel, 2 Oystercatchers, 6 Meadow Pipet, 11 Red Kite (flying in same area), 10 Buzzards, Shelducks, Redshank, Avocet, Litte Egret and Shoveller. 

Hopwood Strike in extended stay

I thought it was only right I dropped into Hopwood after work on Wednesday to catch up with the long staying Great Grey Shrike. It took me five minutes or so to find the bird but he was perched up in the bushes just behind the Oak in the centre of the field. 

It will be interesting how long he hangs around given the decent weather and he has been in residence since December. Great birds locally at the moment. 

Firecrest lands at Earlswood

Local Earlswood Lakes king patch watcher Matt Griffiths kindly dropped me a text on Monday that a Firecrest had landed on his local patch. Unable to get there on Monday I set off early this morning on the hope of finding this gem. (Make sure you give Matt a follow as finds some real top class birds)

Within minutes of entering the undisclosed woodland area I found Matt who confirmed the bird was still present. You could pick up the birds call quickly but it was hard to see the bird at first until we had got some superb views right in front of us. The bird was moving around the area so patience was needed to get more views.

This was certainly an awesome way to start a working day ! 

Green-winged Teal at Morton Bagot

Despite a late drive back from London I still made it out to the north of the Arrow Valley Park by 6.30am and it certainly paid dividends as I located two Oystercatcher, a fly over by a Raven and a small flock of Linnet all patch firsts for the year. Lapwing were displaying in there usual place but numbers are lower than last year. I was hoping to find a Wheatear but I had to settle for a flock of 100+ Fieldfare which must be due to leave these shores very soon.

I has just started to add the sightings to Birdtrack when I checked Rare Bird Alert to see a Green-winged Teal at the near by Morton Bagot. I was in the car within five minutes and quickly arrived at the Church. The walk through Church Farm takes you to a great viewing position of the flashes and with a couple of birders already on site it had some good views of the Teal through the scope. Another gem of a find in this jewel in the crown. Three Green Sandpiper were feeding on the flash furthest away whilst a Common Buzzard sailed above the pools. On the way home I past a Red-legged Partridge which is always a nice bird to see locally. A great weekend.

Lords and Regents Park

 Egyptian Geese

Regents Park

Astwood Bank Cricket Club Under 11's

Saturday brought another day of stunning sunshine so I made the most of our hotel location to walk in Regents Park for an hour before breakfast.  During the hour walk I only saw three other people, very strange considering how packed it was the previous evening when we had called in for a short walk.

A Song Thrush was doing its best to out sing the squawking Parakeets as I headed towards the boating lake. I noticed two separate broods with young both Egyptian Geese. This park would be a genuine test for any mother given the range of natural predators. Both Green and Great Spotted Woodpeckers were recorded in a number of places. The rest of the sightings were mainly as many other parks except for the collection of wildfowl which certainly was a surprise when I came across Mandarin, Harlequin and Smew.

It was then off to Lords where my County Championship winning team from last season battled against the best teams from around the county. We managed a very honourable third place and everyone had a superb day including having a full tour of Lords and seeing the Ashes.