Tuesday 23 February 2016

Sunshine at last

Lade - mild, sunny, nw 2 - Following three days of near continuous drizzle and leaden skies the weather gods finally relented with a dry morning and sunshine, ideal conditions for a circuit of the local patch. As we walked up Mockmill virtually the first bird of note was a Dartford Warbler in the gorse scrub with, as is often the way, a pair of Stonechats, plus a number of singing Wrens and Dunnocks. The farmland by the airport yielded more singers in the form of Skylark and Reed Bunting and a distant ringtail Hen Harrier flew through heading towards Lydd. A weedy field delivered 15 Corn Buntings, 20 Linnets, 10 Goldfinches and 2 Stonechats.
  On the lakes there was no real change in wildfowl numbers from the weekend, while a Great White Egret stalked the reed bed on north lake. Chiffchaff, Cetti`s Warbler, Long-tailed Tit and Green Woodpecker were all noted around the willow swamp and by late morning, from the aerial mound watch point, the sunshine had encouraged two each of Marsh Harrier and Buzzard into the sky for a spot of pre-nuptial sky-dancing and soaring.  

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