31st May - cloudy until late afternoon the sunny spells, 20, light-mod SW

Willey; this morning I heard a strange sound coming from a wood pile, the culprit was a young Stoat. It kept popping its head out in different places and calling, its mother must have heard as an adult came from the nearby hedgerow and disappeared in to the wood heap.  I managed a quick phone photos as it peeped out.

Theddingworth; a look here after lunch, unfortunately the sun was still not out and the breeze was noticeable. Still, a Red Kite, Raven and Kestrel all put in an appearance.  A Buzzard was being harassed by a Jackdaw, but it needn’t have bothered itself.

Blackbird and Pied Wagtails were gathering food, with a Goldfinch pair around too.

30th May - sunny spells, mod SW breeze, humid at times and warm 22C

Claybrooke Parva; a check on a site here for Spotted Flycatcher produced one bird holding territory.  Nearby a Tawny Owl was roosting high in a confer.

29th May - sunny start, quickly clouding over, cool 14C, light-mod Southerly, light rain briefly early evening

Cotesbach Landfill; a quick look here before lunch showed a good number of Red Kites were present, I counted 18 and I’m sure there were more if you could get them all visible at the same time.
c60 House Martins were feeding in the sand pit area, a few Swifts came over too.  5 Shelduck and the Mallard brood were on the water and a single Great-Crested Grebe.

28th May - short showers, sunny spells, , light NW, 16C

Willey; a couple of Mistle Thrush on the Sheep pasture first thing this morning to the west. Later mixed family flock of Starlings flew around the village. Mid-afternoon a Nuthatch was feeding a youngster in the paddock Holly tree, and I spotted this Red-headed Cardinal beetle atop a nettle.

Theddingworth; a look around this area this afternoon.  The Mallard duckling quickly 'ran' to cover over the lake surface and a Long-tailed Tit family was in the surrounding bushes.

A Robin was singing loudly from the very top of a conifer near an orchard.

27th May - sunny spells and occasional short cloud showers, mod NW, breezy occasionally, 16C

Cotesbach Landfill; A single Ringed Plover today, otherwise all the usual birds.

Brandon Marsh; this afternoon a look here, unfortunately it was not butterfly weather.  Plenty of Little -ringed Plover activity on the east marsh pools, also young Oystercatchers and several Lapwing broods.  The one photograph must have hatched only a very short while as the young could hardly walk.

Male and Female Cuckoos, Swifts, Sand and House Martins, plus the usual Warblers.  Plus the other birds expected here in late Spring.

Damselfly and Dragonflies are becoming more numerous now, several Banded Demoiselle were in flight too.

26th May - unsettled, occasionally light shower, breezy at times W. 18C

Lamport Hall,; Swifts and House Martins nesting at the hall. Red Kite over.

Cotesbach landfill; Two Yellow Wagtails collecting food in different areas and flying off to their respective nests with young.  Mallard brood growing well, Shelduck present, no young seen yet though. Several Red Kites around as usual.  No passage waders today.

25th May - mostly sunny, 20C, light WNW

Cotesbach Landfill; Little Stint and Sanderling still present until at least 1530h.

Shawell Lagoons; 7 Lapwing - failed or post-breeders?  Great-Crested Grebe still on nest.

24th May - sunny 21C, light - breezey pm, NW

Cotesbach landfill;   a look here after lunch, 6 Red Kites.  A Dunlin and Sanderling was spotted, also 3 Ringed Plover.  Another wader I considered was likely a Sanderling, but it did not look quite right, smaller and 'browner', however the distance and excessive heat shimmer made me think it was still in winter rather than Spring plumage.

I checked again in the evening and the bird was still present, it clearly now suggested a Little Stint, after further viewing I was sure that it was and called Chris and Carl to see if they could come and confirm, they did and agreed it was. These are rare in the county (Leices)  during the Spring and also the first site record, one was briefly seen at nearby Shawell lagoons in Sept 2016.

23rd May - mostly sunny, light WSW, 22C

Birchmoor; visited an area of farmland here this evening where Quail have been singing, at least 2.  I only heard one at any time but may have been different birds, as they move around a lot can’t be sure. Although very close once in the oilseed rape crop, it never showed on the track or flew.
The area also contained breeding Lapwing, maybe 3 pairs, Linnet, Goldfinch and Whitethroat.

22nd May- sunny spells, light SW, 19C

Cotesbach landfill; a look this evening, nothing new, 2 Red Kites and the usual.  Nice to see Sand and House Martins here feeding.

Stanford reservoir; of note a summer plumed Dunlin and a spring Sanderling were on the dam.

21st May - sunny, 20C, light NW

Norfolk still.

Some new pools and wetland area have been made immediately east of Wells, its called Warham Slade Marsh and these are looking fantastic with many birds already breeding and using the area.  The highlight was 2 Temminck's Stints creeping in the wet vegetation.  Other waders included Greenshank,  Common Sandpiper, Avocet, Black-tailed Godwit and much more.

News of a singing red-spotted Bluethroat sounded interesting so off to see it at Weyborne, quite a hike from the beach car park, but well worth seeing such a bright bird.  It was keeping in the lee of the wind behind a 'pill' box and big bales, but good views were had.

Popped in to NWT Cley marsh centre for a bite and nothing there to see, so headed back to Titchwell Marsh.  Here a Little Gull was found, then a Black Tern dropped in, otherwise similar to the previous day.

Heading back I stopped off at the Nene Washes to see the Baikal Teal which has been present a while now.  Good, but slightly distant views were had, it seems to be following a drake Wigeon around everywhere.  Several Yellow Wagtails, Marsh Harrier, 4 Ringed Plover and 3 Cranes were in the area, plus other usual wetland/marsh birds.  A terrific site to visit I'd say.

20th May - mostly sunny, light NE, 18C

I decided to have a trip to Norfolk so this morning headed off to the east coast'

First port of call was the Choseley barns area, luckily two Dotterel were on a field and a showing well through the scope. Behind me a Corn Bunting was singing from the hedgerow top.

The afternoon I spent at Titchwell Marsh, some highlights included - many breeding birds present, with Mediterranean Gulls were very vocal and now in good breeding numbers in the Black-headed Gull colony.  A Great White Egret was seen in flight, many Little Egret and a Spoonbill flew east. About 25  Brent Geese are still present on the marsh. Apart form the resident breeding waders like Avocet and Redshank few others were around. On the shore Sanderling, Turnstone and Bar-tailed Godwit were feeding, several Great-crested Grebe were on the sea.  Sandwich Terns were feeding and on one of the marsh spits.
Shoveler, Pochard, Mallard and Shelduck were present, a single Red-crested Pochard on the fen pool.

Two Turtle Dove were at the feeding area with Wood Pigeon.  Bearded Tits were seen dashing around the reed bed.

I then popped in to the Redwell Marsh at Holme, here it was great to see 6 Cuckoos in the air together, a long time since I have seen this.

Late evening I visited Dersingham Bog for Nightjar and 'roding' Woodcock.  The first Woodcock was seen at 2103h and Nightjar 'churring' at 2125h. Unfortunately the temperature dropped quite noticeably and mist formed so no Nightjar were seen flying and wing clapping on this occasion.

19th May - sunny spells, light NE, 16C

Cotesbach Landfill area; a good look here this morning, the female Garganey still and 5 Ringed Plover.  Grey, Yellow and Pied Wagtails again.   In the adjacent spinney a Treecreeper, Goldcrest and Blackcap were singing well.  Blue and Great Tits were gathering food for young. A Lesser Whitethroat was in the boundary hedgerow.
Only Shelduck and Mallards were the other ducks present along with Canada and Grey Lag Geese.

18th May - sunny spells, light NE, 15C

Cotesbach Landfill; this afternoon 8 Ringed Plover (Carl had spotted 10 earlier) and 3 Sanderling.  The female Garganey was still here, busy feeding, along with the other usual duck residents.

17 Red Kites were feeding in the area.  A Yellow, Grey and several Pied Wagtails were seen.  A good number of House Martins and Sand Martins again.

17th May - cloudy, mod NNE wind easing later, sunny intervsal pm, 17C

Cotesbach Landfill; a look this morning at the sand pit area produced the female Garganey still, 6 Ringed Plovers, 5 Swift, c50 House Martins, Sand Martins, Shelduck and a Lapwing in territory still.

Can you spot the House Martin?

Carl checked out the sand pit area at lunch time and found 3 Sanderling had joined the Ringed Plovers.  I checked after lunch and again about 1600h - the Sanderling were still present but now 8 Ringed Plover.  The flock was very flighty and kept flying around, eventually I lost them and they may have left.

Stanford reservoir;  A walk here in the afternoon, notables were 2 Common Sandpipers, 5 Pochard, Swifts House and Sand Martins.

A singing Garden Warbler gave me a chance to get a close-up photo, it took no notice of me standing there, too busy countering 2 other males singing near to it's territory.

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16th May - sunny- mostly, cloudier pm and light wind freshening alittle. 18C

WIlley, a smart Brimstone was on the wild flower bed mid-day.

Cotesbach Landfill; a look this morning, 5 Ringed Plover and the female Garganey still present.  Getting photos of the Garganey was near impossible due to distance, strong sun and crazy heat simmer, so sorry about the next photos.

At least 7 Red Kites were around too.

15th May - sunny, 19C, light Easterly.

Cotesbach Landfill;  Today proved to be a very good day here.  This morning I found a Wood Sandpiper and it was still present in the evening. The other usual birds, Shelduck, Red Kite, etc, were also present, including a single Male Yellow Wagtail.

Distance strong sun and heat simmer made photography almost impossible, but I tried.

In the evening Carl checked  and spotted a female Garganey, my first site record.  I did spot a female duck this morning too that I thought may have been one, but only had distant views with binoculars, when I returned with my scope it was out of sight. So, it was good it was still there to be identified. Also, this evening 3 Ringed Plover were present.



During the afternoon, at another location, I found my 'first of the year' singing Spotted Flycatcher, at a usual site so I am hopeful it will breed.

Stanford reservoir; a short walk here, very quite today, nice flowers though.

14th May - sunny, light Easterly, 19C

Willey; both Lesser Whitethroats were singing in their territories this morning.

Cotesbach Landfill;  a Sanderling was in the sand pit area after lunch. 10 Red Kites and several Buzzards. House and Sand Martins were over the water.  Two Great-Crested Grebes are regular now, I don’t suppose they will breed. Unlike the Canada Geese, 2 broods today, 4 and 7 goslings respectively.

The distant Sanderling through extreme heat simmer!

Misterton; a look here for Spotted Flycatcher, none seen.  A Treecreeper was being pursued by a recently fledged bird which it fed occasionally. Nuthatch was seen, a Green Woodpecker called nearby, a Stock Dove was singing in the wood and a Grey Heron was fishing at the lakes edge.

13th May - sunny, 20C, light easterly

Welney Washes WWT; as I was in the area to day I could not miss a visit to this reserve, it has lots to see.  Highlights included 2 Cattle Egret, a Great Egret, a Bittern in flight dropping in to reeds near the main observatory, Marsh Harriers hunting, Black-tailed Godwit, Avocets, Common Tern, Redshank, Whooper Swan and much more.  Easily spend a good day here looking out for birds and insects.

Mainly due to the incredible heat haze/simmer photos of the Cattle Egret were difficult to get sharp.

12thn May - mostly sunny, 16C, light breeze SE

Willey; this morning the Lesser Whitethroat was singing to the east from its usual area.  Later a Jay flew from the Long Spinney across the fields.

Cotesbach landfill area; in the sandpit area 4 Ringed Plover and 5 Dunlin.  7 Red Kites in the area.  5 Shelduck and 2 Great-crested Grebe.

Stanford reservoir; a walk around here this afternoon, very pleasant, more Butterflies than of recent, Brimstone, Peacock, Speckled Wood, Orange Tip, Small Tortoiseshell and Painted lady (my first here this year).  Damselflies and my first Dragonfly zoomed by, possibly a Broad-bodied Chaser.

Birds included all the usual Warblers, including the Whitethroat singing atop a bush, several Yellowhammers were along the hedgerow.  The drake Wigeon now looks settled, also looking very splendid in it summer plumage.  A Raven and Red Kite flew passed, and Oystercatchers were heard, a single Common Sandpiper was on the dam. At least 2 Yellow Wagtails have territories on the reservoir-farmland.  Hobby were hawking higher over the adjacent wood today and many less hirundines around.