Plenty of outings in April mainly to HMWT Amwell & RSPB Rye Meads, other destinations have been, in no specific order, HMWT Waterford Heath & Panshanger Park; RSPB The Lodge, Sandy; River Stour at Mistley; Combs Wood at Bennington; Ellenbrook Fields at Hatfield; The Birds of Prey Centre at Cotton End, Bedford and my back garden.
Some of the highlights for me were (again in no particular order) :
- Wheatear at Ellenbrook Fields, an unusually friendly and confiding male bird;
- my first ever sighting of a Whimbrel, at Rye Meads - I usually turn up on the first day the "target" bird has departed (as per Bluethroat!);
- Black-Necked Grebes at HMWT Amwell - although they kept their distance;
- unusual trees at HMWT Panshanger Park (and a 3 hour walk around without getting even close to the lake!);
- Nuthatches nest building at Amwell & providing good views;
- Sunday lunch in the Red Lion at Finchingfield - not strictly blog material but I enjoyed it nonetheless!;
- nesting Coal Tit at The Lodge, Sand
- the arrival of warblers and other Spring/Summer birds across the piece;
- and of course the Amwell Bluethroat - even though I didn't see it!
1. HMWT locations
Amwell
Panshanger Park
2. RSPB Locations
Rye Meads
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| My first ever Whimbrel |
The Lodge, Sandy & Fowlmere
3. Other Locations
Ellenbrook Fields, Hatfield - that Wheatear.
To quote Seymour Birdies "a cracker", you're not wrong!
The River Stour at Mistley, Essex
Combs Wood, Bennington
I came in search of Bluebells and found them!
and so to my final stop, my back garden
April is almost done (at the time of writing), one of my readers "The Bearded Tit", is on his way to Spain for a birding break - have a great time, and no, I don't want to see the photos! As for the others well I'll probably see you both on the trails somewhere!
If you enjoy it please let me know.
Cheers - here comes summer!
