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 Return to Whetsted...

After the past couple of years with the 'pandemic, dont go anywhere, dont touch yer granny, dont breath' approach, so for some time limiting birding opportunities.....it now seems the determination of the fuel prices is....up....up.....up!!!....so again could limit birding here in the UK.....

So...with that in mind and a free morning....I decided to visit Whetsted....after all, surely by now they have got machinery in, digging all over the place, putting up buildings, getting out that valuable deposit of gravel or somesuch and getting people buildign stuff with it.....

Some things never change though....farmers......guardians of the countryside....

Stop worrying yourself about all that plastic in the environment...your local farmer is making  right shambles of it all.....here we have a crop no doubt being protected from those pesky Woodpigeons by....loads of plastic bags tied to sticks....well...whats left of them....im sure loads of blown away in to the surrounding areas, never to be retrieved....

Guardian of nothing really....well done farmer numbnuts....

Usual thing up on North field...at some point they have cut it....it was developing nicely in to a weedy field ideal for larks, finches and pipits and more....

When I finally got to the  tracks along the pits.......

They have certainly widened the tracks, on the left

up to the wire fence....

....and made some interesting ruts and puddles....could

be good for Little Ringed Plover in a couple of weeks...

...and knocked over some gates.....

....bit surprising to find they havent done any construction at the quarry end though a few signs have appeared....so....onward.....it looks like Whetsted will be good for the summer....

All the usual suspects were around....the point of the trip was to see if I could find any Chiffchaff singing....and I found 5....nice....!!

Many other birds were 'expected' but nice to see....

50+ Shoveler

3 Buzzards

1 Treecreeper

4 Goldeneye.....1m 3f

3 Herring Gull....amngst the 100+ Black-headed Gulls

2 Common Gull

4 Mediterannean Gull.....these have appeared at the pit previously, but this is the best number so far...

2 Lapwing on West Pit.....

2 Common Snipe

1 Mandarin Duck

1 Wigeon

A real surprise was a Great White Egret on Island Pit....and heres a rubbish phot of it....

...its up there somewhere....

A Kestrel was at the eastern end....another interesting point was 2 Sparrowhawks....usually a bird that is occasional at the pits and certainly not a guarantee such as Buzzard....nice to see two today.

Looking like birds are arriving already.....!!!

Couple of pics to finish off....

Celendines...always nice to see...bright and sunny....

Lichen...fascinating stuff.....this is a 'beard'

lichen....possibly Usnea florida