Week Off

I'm off work this week which means I should squeeze some time in for wildlife watching. The week has started on a damp and squelchy note however as the weather has proved to be somewhat wetter than the forecast suggested it would be. I opted for a modest beginning and my travels took me only as far as Deene Lake via Weldon, Deenethorpe Airfield and the village itself.

Grey Wagtail and Red Kite

A short bus trip took me as far as Weldon and I walked along the A427 on my way to the airfield. Some morning sunshine tempted many Skylarks into singing and I enjoyed their song whenever I could hear it above the traffic noise! Meadow Pipits and Yellowhammers were also noted. The larks and pipits were also present in good numbers around the airfield though I didn't manage to find much else here other than a couple of Lapwings and a flock of Linnets. There's plenty of mud at Deene Lake inflow but I didn't see any Green Sandpipers and my search through the hundred plus Teal failed to produce a Green-winged either. Putting this disappointment to one side I walked along the public footpath towards Deene Village noting both Siskin and Grey Wagtail on the way. There was nothing on the farm ponds while the churchyard held a decent sized flock of Redwings and several Mistle Thrushes. Little to report from the main lake, a pair of Black Swans were again present and also a selection of the commoner wildfowl.

Stonechats

Having decided to begin my walk home I headed back across the airfield in increasingly worse conditions. Drizzle gave way to slightly heavier rain and I was pleased that I was wearing my waterproof coat. A Snipe squawked as it flew up from the side of the path, they seem to like this area and I often flush one or two though never intentionally I should add! Highlight of the day was provided by a pair of Stonechats near the hangars and other buildings. Although it was still raining a bit I decided to risk my camera and take a few pics of both. They moved on and I did likewise heading towards Weldon and my return bus but not before |I saw a Marsh Tit on the edge of Weldon Park Wood, a flock of Lapwings flying over the A427 proved to be the last sighting of the day.