Spring is in the Air

A lovely morning with a distinct hint of Spring in the air. I was able to scrounge a lift over to Blatherwycke Lake from where I walked back via Deene, Priors Hall and Weldon. Four drake Mandarins were in their usual spot and there was also two Egyptian Geese. Somewhere between five and nine Shelduck were in the general area including a pair prospecting around one of the barns. No signs of Hawfinch around the church but I did get decent views of Nuthatch. A peek over the usual fence revealed a selection of wallabies and several Rheas.

Images from Blatherwycke including a wallaby with joey.

Wandering back along the road towards Deene I enjoyed the songs of many Skylarks and Yellowhammers while flocks of Fieldfares and Starlings were moving eastwards. It seems as if plenty of Meadow Pipits were passing through too, I heard them throughout the day.  A nice discovery was a small colony of Tree Sparrows in some Ivy clad trees near to the A43, it's always nice to find this scarce species in new areas.

Mistle Thrush and Tree Sparrows.

A singing Chiffchaff in a small wood close to Deene church was my first of the Spring, there were at least two more at Priors Hall later. The main lake held eighteen Shelduck but not much else while the farm ponds had little to add. Rather a lot of bees were active today and they included some small ones feeding on Lesser Celandines.

Coltsfoot flowers and bumble bee

A detour through Priors Hall turned out to be worth while with a selection of good stuff on view. Four male Brimstones and a Peacock were my first butterflies since January while several flowering Sallows were attracting plenty of bumble bees. Despite all the signs of Spring three Woodcocks and a flock of seventeen Teal spoke more of winter. The lake in the quarry held about twenty Wigeon while numbers of Pochard had risen to eight, there were good numbers of Tufted Ducks too while a large number of gulls were present. Little Ringed Plover numbers had gone up to three while an Oystercatcher was a welcome find.

Priors waders.

Not much in Weldon though another male Brimstone was seen as I made my way to the pub.