My last two visits to Stanwick Lakes have been very spring-like, even if they were both in late February.
Reed buntings were singing, if you can call that a song, everywhere, and skylarks, song thrushes and dunnocks were belting out their songs too. I heard Cetti’s warblers for the first time in quite a while.
I listened carefully to a singing song thrush as, in just the same place, last year there was a singing song thrush that impersonated the call of a whimbrel. This bird was in the same place but not singing the same song. I’ll keep an ear on it as the season goes on as last year I only noticed the whimbrelly song thrush in late April and early May, at just the time when whimbrels do pass through, and just before I headed off to the USA for my trip. And it wasn’t just me who was fooled for a while, another local birder and I swapped tales of the whimbrelly song thrush last year.
A large flock, about 350 birds, of mostly fieldfares but with a few redwings, gathered in tree tops and just looked like they were taking their last look at Northants before heading back to Scandinavia.
The oystercatchers are back and for the next few months no visit to this site will be without their loud piping.
I love this time of year – soon every day will provide more evidence of the arrival of spring. When will the first sand martin , or most likely a flock of them, be quartering the main lake and chattering? When will the first sedge warbler be back in the reeds belting out its song? When will the first cuckoo be heard? Which waders will pass through on their way further north and which will stay to breed?
In my youth I used to try to hear a singing chiffchaff before my birthday towards the end of March, and often did, but these days I listen out for them much earlier, before the start of the Cheltenham Festival which begins this year on 13 March.
Thinking of Cheltenham, I have been asked by some readers of this blog to give you some pointers to the likely winners, and I have been asked by some other readers of this blog not to do any such thing.
I’d be surprised if I can resist giving the odd hint as we get closer to the great event.
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Female Reed Bunting in garden 3 days ago,we are about a mile from fishing lakes where they must be if you could catch sight of them there.Thought it was probably a Woodlark until expert I D a photo.
Dennis – that’s nice. Listen out for reed buntings and I bet you will hear them around lakes and reed beds in the next few weeks.
We used to have a starling that would regularly visit our garden that did a very mean impersonation of a lapwing. When we first moved into our house, the field behind was used for growing fodder crops and despite the late drilling date, at least 2-3 pairs of lapwings would always nest each year, no doubt drawn to the one area of spring tillage in a desert of improved grassland. Sadly the fodder crops are no more and the lapwings have long gone, however the mimicking starling (I assume it was the same one) returned for a few years and entertained us with its lapwing mimicry and at times you could be forgiven for thinking you were in the Somerset levels rather than the Cheshire plain. Oddly, we never heard it mimicking anything else.
I always think watching or hearing a common bird do something interesting or a bit different is every bit as enjoyable as seeing a rare one.
The peewits, curlews and oyxs are back in STRATHBRAAN. Spring is just around the corner, even if we still have snowdrops and no daffies yet.
Helen – welcome to this blog!
No birds yet but primrose and colt’s foot out in bloom
David – I haven’t seen primrose yet