24th April - mostly cloudy, cool northwest light wind, 9C

The Robin, that I noted had nested in a straw bale, now has young and was busy collecting food this morning.

A quick visit to the local lake this morning did not produce too much, a possible Garden Warbler sang briefly.  A Buff-tailed Bumblebee spent a long time on the ground, eating/chewing something to its taste.

I made it to Eyebrook reservoir hoping that some migrants would be present.  Well, over the water there were many hundreds, maybe c1500 hirundines, Swallows, House and Sand Martins, these were very busy feeding and sometimes resting where ever they could, the reeds, bushes and dead branches in the water.

An Osprey flew in and hunted for fish, it did not succeed and flew off.  It, or another returned a little later and this time caught a fish  before flying off with it. A couple of Common tern were on the raft.  Four Teal, several Tufted Duck, Gadwall and a male Wigeon were off shore.

While on the bridge over the eye brook a female Blackbird was literally at my feet collecting nest material. The male was in the nearby Willow occasionally disputing territory with another male, the brook being the invisible border..  The female kept crossing between each side which I'm sure added to their tension.

Several Yellow Wagtails were flying around, eventually they came close to me. One sat in a tree top before joining others on the grass, the males were a stunning bright yellow.

Then, a Short-eared Owl appeared at the inlet end and hunted there before moving off over the fields looking for food.  This has been seen here for a few days appearing late afternoon and evening.