Milvus surprise

First though, dawn really did crack....!

.....rather splendidly.....

Another visit....though this run of visits is coming to an end as the school holidays will be over come Sunday evening...back to normal...though with the extended photo period upon us im hoping to fit in some short early morning visits and possibly a few evenings....

Im also hoping that there will be a resounding finale on Sunday.  With the warblers piling in over the past couple of weeks things have been getting better and better....and today was a real treat indeed...

0545 - 0800 overcast but brightening, chilly, E - ENE f2-4

Around the pits:

Chaffinch, Robin, Wren, Woodpigeon, Song Thrush, Magpie, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Green Woodpecker, Blackbird, Jay, Skylark, Crow, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Reed Bunting, Cuckoo, Linnet, Dunnock, Goldcerst, Buzzard, Jackdaw, 2 Swallows, Feral Pigeon, Greenfinch, Goldfinch.

Todays highlights were first...a Red Kite at the west end of the site in the field just south of the Last Pit.  Fabulous.  Amazing.  Havent seen one for a long time....then I spied one on the way to Cambridge last week...one soars over my house a couple of days ago....and now one at the pits (same one as over my house??)....

Is this the beginning of a Red Kite explosion in the area?.....now that would be fantastic.!

The other highlight around the pits was a pair of Kestrels displaying.  Something I have never seen before today.  A real treat to see them soaring, dipping  and diving together and at each other.

On the pits:

Little Egret, Mallard, Mute Swan, Canada Geese, Greylag Geese, Tufted Duck, Coot, Great Crested Grebe, Moorhen, Cormorant, Snipe, 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull.

Another highlight of the day....a pair of Grey Herons clearly displaying....flying together, calling differently to each other as they went.  Sure, not as agile as the Kestrels...but more and enlarged display as they followed each other over longer ranges.

Warbler count:

pyit pyut 30
Blackcap 15
Whitethroat 10
Willow Warbler 1
Sedge Warbler 1
Nightingale 11

Finally caught up with one of the Nightingales....seeing is believing!

In two of the copses of trees...

Bluebells, Hyacinthoides non-scripta

The Oak leaves are much more developed than this....

Ash, Fraxinus excelsior

 ...Ash....so its looking like a 'splash'...a good summer ahead (if you go with all that old wives tales stuff!)...

Red Dead-nettle, Lamium purpurium

Last, I keep mentioning places around the site.  These are names made up by me.  So, as long as I remember my camera I will take a few snaps of these to bring people up to speed.  And without further ado....lets start...

This is East Beach.  Indeed, not much of a beach but this is one of the places good for Green Sandpiper if they are around.

East Beach