13th May - cloudy am, sunny spells pm, 18C, light-fresh SSW

Cossington Meadows; an afternoon visit hoping this time to catch up with the Glossy Ibis that has eluded me on previous visits.  Walking along the main track to the marsh area there was a good selection of warblers singing, including a Lesser Whitethroat and 2 Garden Warblers.  Linnet, Goldfinch, Bullfinch and Chaffinch were all around the fields with a good number of Reed Buntings.

When I arrived at the marsh area the expected selection of duck and grebes were present, with Swifts, House and Sand martins and Swallows hawking around the area. I explored the area and finally back-tracked to an area I though most likely, here a Little -ringed Plover was resting, then the Glossy Ibis showed and I was able to watch it for 10 mins before it flew off.

After this I explored a part I had not visited before, as I walked passed the tern pool a Hobby flew by quite low and swerving about, great to see.  Further on near the river island a Treecreeper was singing and both a Green and Great-Spotted Woodpecker were calling.  At the Plover Scrape a few Lapwing were around the edge and a single Redshank was feeding.

Stanford Reservoir; in the evening I popped here to see if any new birds were in.  It was nice to see about 20 Swifts feeding overhead.  Generally, the usual birds were present, 11 Ringed Plover dropped in for a while but seemed very nervous and were off again.