Walked with a friend along the Mill Stream yesterday, had 4 singing males and noticed 2 birds at one spot, so there were at least 5 there. Also displaying Lapwing over the wet area, and a displaying Stonechat nearby. Yellowhammer heard too and seen sitting on a wire. Linnets, Lesser Whitethroats, Skylarks and Reed Warblers about too. Seems to be only one nest at the heronry.

Did the 2 local squares this morning for the SOS Nightingale survey. The male by the dead tree adjacent to Dagbrook Lane was belting away, but I couldn’t locate a bird in TQ2015. Maybe the one south of the Old Steam Mill relocated briefly to the back of Lower Station Road, and then on to where Liz T heard one along the railway line. By way of compensation, a Cetti’s Warbler was singing below Spring Hills (not heard one there before), a Lesser Whitethroat nearby, and a Garden Warbler east of Dunstalls. Got a view of it, in poor light, and it had no black cap or white throat! (VB)