Windy Wicksteed

 My visit to Wicksteed Park in Kettering this morning was timed to avoid the schoolkids on the X4. I'm all in favour of a good education but I don't want to listen to the inane patter of hormone addled brains trying to out cool each other when all I want is peace and quiet. I was successful in my efforts and arrived in Kettering ready to brave the combination of sunshine and cloudier spells as well as the now familiar strong breeze that greeted me on arrival.

Shoveller and Gadwall

On the main lake there was a small selection of duck which included Gadwall and Shoveller but I sense that a lot of the wildfowl has still to arrive. At least two Cetti's Warblers were singing from waterside vegetation and this species seems well established here now. There was quite a large group of mostly immature gulls bobbing about on the lake with most being either Lesser Black-backeds or Herrings but I also managed to find two juv/first winter Yellow-Leggeds too - rubbishy record shots are posted below. A walk around the fishing lake produced a small flock of about half a dozen Redpolls while both Willow Emeralds and Common Darters were also noted. Only one Migrant Hawker was observed but it really was quite windy here and I suppose that most had found more sheltered spots to hunt in. I didn't see any butterflies at Wickies but I saw both Red Admiral and Small White on my return to Corby. It seems as if most of next week is going to be unseasonably warm - such a shame that I'm going to be in Majorca!

Yellow-legged Gulls.