Having been away for a week, it was nice to sit in the garden yesterday and hear a few Swifts flying overhead while at the opposite end of the size scale, a White Stork flew over the gardens at tree top height! Also, the Nightingale down near the scrub down the road from us near Braziers is still in full song which is lovely but sadly it probably means that he is still without a mate and time is moving on! A Goldcrest is constantly singing around the garden while this morning a couple of House Martins were hawking over the gardens.

This morning I did the Area 11 breeding survey (Small Dole-New Hall-Stretham- Downs Link- Mill Stream-Small Dole) and recorded 49 species. Most of the species you would expect but a couple of notable sightings included a flyover by 8 Shoveler, the first time I’ve recorded this species in 25 years of surveying this patch. 83 mixed crow species feeding on a recently ploughed field was unusual at this time of year. Both Swifts and Swallows just reached double figures, there were 2 pairs of Lapwings around, there appears to be 2 Little Egret nests in the heronry that Val recently reported on. Just the one Nightingale singing in the hedgerow near the water treatment plant but probaby 3 Cetti’s Warblers blasted out their song as I walked by. In those 25 years, Skylarks in the patch have remained at between 6 and 9 territories during the surveys and it’s pleasing that I estimated a similar count today. (MR)