Sunny Morning Saunter.

I trusted the weather forecast enough to gamble one of my precious holidays and luckily for me there was plenty of sunshine about to enjoy. Having not been over to Harringworth Lodge Lake for a while I headed off in that general direction.

Chiffchaff and Blackcap.

It was a little grey when I left home but that didn't stop a Meadow Pipit singing at one of their breeding sites on the Willowbrook Industrial Estate. Brookfield Plantation did not yield much of interest, a small flock of Siskins and a pair of Mistle Thrushes were the only things of note. A Dabchick showed well at the flooded quarry near Gretton, it shared the water with several Greylags.

A good day for butterflies.

A walk along a track towards Gretton produced my first Lesser Whitethroat of this stuttering Spring and I also managed to get one of my best photos of Chiffchaff. Leaving the village on the Jurassic Way I heard a Whitethroat singing which was another year first. Just a little further on a Peacock was seen, it was good to catch up with butterflies again. The Lodge lake had a reasonable number of birds with no surprises amongst their number. The highlight was a pair of Ospreys passing high overhead and going in a south easterly direction. This seems to be a good spot to find these birds on Spring passage. Another Peacock was seen here and a male Brimstone was seen feeding on Dandelions, I was able to get my first pictures of the year.

Bee Fly and Greylags.

Returning along the Jurassic Way I saw two more male Brimstones and there were also good numbers of Bee Flies as the insects responded to the sunny conditions. Two Ravens gave themselves away with some typically croaky calls while numbers of both Red Kites and Buzzards were high. Sparrowhawk was another raptor to find its way on to the list as one was seen circling over Brookfield. The return walk through the plantation produced views of a large herd of Fallow Deer feeding on one of the rides. A lot of butterfly activity began with a Comma and there were also sightings of Brimstone (five, including a female), Small Tortoiseshell (at least ten) and Peacock (six). Although no new species for the year were seen today it won't be too long before others appear.

Fallow Deer.

A Kestrel took the raptor total to five when one was seen hunting at Willowbrook Industrial and I finished my day with further sightings of both Small Torts and Brimstones.