13: 00 > 15:00Cloudy, NE wind and a cool 12c.
What a difference a day makes! Shorts yesterday, today a shirt, fleece and windcheater and still feeling the cold.
The birds didn't look much like performing either. Plenty of Yellow Wagtails still about but with no sun and me being a bit early there was no sign of the Channel Wagtail. Thats not to say its not there just hard to track as they, the Yellow Wags, flitted around the shoreline and islands.
Around the margins the usual Lapwings and Little Ringed Plovers but Oystercatcher numbers up to four in the inlet. Down in the new workings a lone Shelduck has returned but left the eight Tufted Ducks and a handful of Mallards alone on the main water.
A walk along the Ouse to see if any Reed or Sedge Warblers had returned yet proved fruitless but a couple of pair of Reed Bunting were seen. In the water of the river itself noticable was the number of large Chub in the shallow gravel beds supposedly spawning. Over the Castlethorpe Path bridge, a good area usually for warblers the first Common Whitethroat was seen as were Chiffchaff and Willow Warbler, as also an area to keep an eye on in the next few weeks.
Sand Martins and House Martins dominated the skies with circa 120 combined including a times sizable groups landing to hug the shoreline for a rest, A handful of Swallows, mostly over the river and the last remaining section of Flood Meadow were also on site. Two Common Terns also dropped in.
And the first breeding success, a female Mallard led eight sizable ducklings on a foray round the water before off to hide once more in the ever growing vegatation.
And finally on leaving a single Little Egret flew in while a pair of returning Mistle Thrush could be found in the usual area on the top field.
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