Golden Start, Dull Later

 This Sunday's weather was very similar to last week with a sunny start giving way to clouds and eventually rain. My morning involved a bus to Weldon and then a walk to Deene via Deenethorpe Airfield and village. While the weather may have resembled last Sunday the birding did not and overall it was pretty poor.

Golden Plovers

Chaffinches seemed to be on the move this morning, I heard them passing over my garden as I hung the washing out, a Grey Wagtail also flew past though this was probably a wintering bird. My bus was unusually punctual and I reached Weldon before nine and set off on my stroll along the A427. Just beyond the new academy I came across a large flock of Golden Plovers feeding in one of the roadside fields. A quick count suggested a minimum of 106 birds and also gave me a chance to see if any American Golden Plovers were accompanying them, there weren't! Sadly this was the highpoint of my day birdwise and I struggled to see much of interest during the rest of my wander.

Red Admiral

There were small numbers of Redwings feeding in the hedgerow at the entrance to the airfield and I heard at least one Redpoll above the clatter of a stunting biplane's engine. In the lane between Deenethorpe and the A427 I noted a female Common Darter and a Red Admiral making the most of the morning sunshine. At nearby Deene Lake there were a lot of birds but little of interest, I'd hoped to connect with either Whooper Swans or Pink-footed Geese but failed in both respects. The inflow was empty of birds and increasing cloud cover ruled out any further insect sightings. I reached Weldon just as the rain began to fall, a Siskin was my final sighting of the day. Stagecoach then stepped in to end my day on a disagreeable note as the X4 was twenty five minutes late, thank God for bus shelters!