Today's weather was dominated by a very strong breeze which blew in a few showers during the morning but these happily were replaced by longer spells of sun during the afternoon. Alan Shorrock and I paid a visit to the Nene Valley where we began at the reserve at Aldwincle before carrying on to Stanwick Lakes.
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| Aldwincle and Stanwick |
Aldwincle was fairly quiet though I did see my first county Cuckoos of the year, both a male and female were present. After yesterday's single Swift there were twenty plus feeding over the reserve and it was good to hear their screaming calls again. High water levels meant that there was little chance of seeing many waders though we managed to pick out a single Common Sandpiper which showed distantly from the hide. Not much else to report from here, any thoughts of seeing damsels or dragons were scuppered by the gale.
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| Egretless cattle and wader double. |
One very good side effect of the less than brilliant weather was that it kept the crowds away from Stanwick! On our walk around we heard a Chiffchaff sing an interesting variation of the usual song in which it appeared to repeat each note twice, in effect it became a Chiffchiff-chaffchaff! More Swifts were seen here though a potential danger to them in the shape of a Hobby was also observed. Best birds were all noted on the main lake. My first Cattle Egret of the year made a flying visit, I'd hoped that it might be tempted to stop in amongst the cattle in front of the hide but it wasn't to be. Also noted here were a couple of Little Ringed Plovers, another Common Sandpiper and a Dunlin. Fans of dodgy record shots may well appreciate the photo of the latter! With the gale showing no signs of easing we made our excuses and left, it would be nice to have a sunny day with no showers or wind or is that too much to ask?
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| Tufted Ducks |
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