With April well underway and it being a beautiful sunny morning I was confident of a good morning’s birding, and just for once I was proved right. Heading up to Betley Bridge from Bishop Park there was plenty of activity to be seen and heard, and it was nice to hear my first Blackcaps of the year. The river from Betley to New Inn was strangely quiet, and today I decided to carry on down river to the Overflow Pit. A wise move as here there was a Little Egret, a Green Sandpiper and more impressively a pair of Garganey! Probably two of the four that had been seen earlier in the month, but did this mean they are staying here to breed?

Carrying on to the Mill Stream another Green Sandpiper popped up, and further along I had my, and I believe Henfield’s, first Whitethroat of the year. Nightingale and Cetti’s Warbler were also heard singing but inevitably not seen.