Four More for the Year

The weather conditions seemed to be good for raptors this morning, because from the house I had my first Common Buzzard of the year over the park, and a pair of Sparrowhawk up very high over the woods. In the afternoon a Kestrel was over the woodland too.

In the evening I took a walk to the Mill Lakes via the Pit Tip where a single Meadow Pipit flushed from, calling as it flew away. A Willow Warbler was singing from a tree in the smaller western plantation, and plenty of Skylark were singing too. At the lake, a pair of Greylag Goose had eleven young with them, and another pair alongside them had four more-recently fledged young. From the Reedbed Boardwalk I could make out a pair of Mallard with at least two ducklings in the reeds.

My first Sedge Warbler of the year was singing (sub-song only) from somewhere towards the back of the the Reedbed. At the Peninsula, two unseasonal Black-headed Gull flew over quite low, heading north, and a Common Swift flew over the main entrance just before sunset. Back on the main site a Kestrel was hunting over Parkside after sunset, and two male Tawny Owl were calling behind Alexandra Lodge.