Paint It Black

Today was the last day of my long weekend and I finished with a trip over to Aldwincle in the company of Alan Shorrock. It turned out to be pretty hot too and I had to reach for the sun cream for the first time so far this year. Happily for us there were a few good birds to see both on the reserve and also at the nearby Thrapston Town Lake.

Sedge Warbler and Greenshank

Plenty of Sedge Warblers were singing and one posed very nicely indeed, it looks as if this might be a decent year for them. Unfortunately we couldn't find any Garden Warblers despite searching though I'm sure that we'll catch up with one soon enough. A Greenshank feeding on a small pool near the North Hide was my first of the year. Alan picked out a Raven as it passed over and there was also at least one Great White Egret to enjoy. Butterflies seen here included Peacock, Small White and Small Tortoiseshell.

Great White Egret and Green-veined White

Moving round to the Town Lake where a search of the vegetation did not produce any sightings of damselflies, it wasn't entirely without reward however as I did see only my second Green-veined White of the year. While scanning through the many Common Terns and Black-headed Gulls feeding around the lake I picked out a couple of Black Terns. While both were present for at least three hours they were always at a distance and while views through the scope were good the pics were dire! Heat haze and distance are never a happy combination for the would be record shot snapper. Having had our fill of these dusky beauties we called it quits bringing to a close a very successful long weekend's birding.

More dodgy record shots - Black Terns