Yellow fever

The last few days have seen some good numbers of yellow wagtails on the access road; 30+ being best. However this morning I stopped and had a good look over the freshly drilled fields either side – where there were in excess of 100 from virtually grey juvs to birds so yellow it looked like they were just arriving for Spring. In addition were also around 30 meadow pipits and 20 linnet:



Later in the day Derrick managed another wheatear on the road, and HVWG around 60 mixed tree and house sparrows. At the end of the day I was looking forward, scope in hand to have a proper look through them all and see what I could find on the way home.

The count?... None. Just four curlew:

Whether that is it we’ll have to wait and see – maybe you just need to be there first thing. Or it could have been the hobby that Sue had half an hour earlier may have seen them all off.

That aside, three curlew sandpiper and one ruff still on SME – water levels dropped another ½” to keep them:


Also attracting a grey heron:

And black-necked grebe still on D quite close in:


Other sightings today included the kingfishers, several hundred hirundines over O wood, lesser black backed gulls on D, marsh harrier over Standingholme, and a mixed tit flock which again included willow warbler, blackcap and treecreeper – but only these two were photographable:


This comma managed to find a patch of sun outside the office window:


Finally you may have noticed the re-vamped blog header – thanks to Martin Hodges, Andy Marshall, Tony McLean and Alan Walkington whose great images I hope they don’t mind me pilfering to compose it.