Summer Returns

 My brother and I ventured out to Summer Leys today hoping to catch up with a few decent birds - it's safe to say that our mission succeeded! After a rather frosty though bright start the morning gradually warmed up becoming pleasant and springlike and by the end of our walk our coats had been discarded.

Great White Egret and Blackcap.

On our initial circuit of the reserve we were treated to good views of a Great White Egret on the scrape and David picked out my first Common Terns of the year over the main lake. Walking on produced a small flock of four Yellow Wagtails feeding in a ploughed field though no sign of the reported Blue-headed. A singing Sedge Warbler was my first of this year near the Sand Martin colony though I was annoyed to miss out on an Otter that everyone else managed to see. Several Cetti's Warblers were heard taking our warbler total up to five. Having completed the circular walk a quick check of the Northants Birds site showed that interesting birds had been found in our absence so we had to head back to the scrape for another peek.

Oystercatcher, Redshank and Snipe.

The pair of Garganey which have spent a fair bit of time here over the past week or more had flown in and it seems as if the effort tired them out because they spent most of their time sleeping! Also here was a nice sum plum Black-tailed Godwit as well as some very obliging Snipe. I heard and my brother saw a Little Ringed Plover while someone else heard Mediterranean Gulls passing by. Wandering back round to the Rotary Hide produced good though distant views of a pair of adult Med Gulls, surely these are one of the most attractive of the larids? News that a reported Ring Ouzel at the Earls Barton GP over the road was showing made our next choice of destination an easy one.

Garganeys and Black-tailed Godwit.

The male Ring Ouzel, like the Meds, showed well if distantly and I managed a few dodgy record shots. My brother heard Med Gull again though it was not the best bird to be heard today as our good day became an very good one. We heard a Bee-eater call three times as it it passed over in a westerly direction. Attempts to find it in the blue vault failed though there was no doubt about its ID. We're both familiar with this species having had extensive experience of them around the Med and also on a couple of occasions in the UK. No Avocets or Starlings were present in the vicinity so any remote chance of confusion with possible soundalikes could be ruled out. This was our final find of the day though it's safe to say that we ended on a high! Apart from that Otter the only other wildlife of note was a male Brimstone on the reserve.

It's record shot time - Med Gulls and Ring Ouzel.