Monday (18/04) really did start with a BANG! I decided to do my routine lunch break visit to Grimsbury Res on a relatively calm, cool & cloudy day. Early that morning, a Kittiwake had been seen briefly before heading off high NE. Despite not seeing it, it was a good sign that good birds were on the move.
On arrival, I was taken by surprise in discovering it or another (?) adult Kittiwake strongly circling the reservoir...cerching! I phoned Gareth to let him know and then continued to watch.
It didn't look terribly settled, however continued to fly round and round. In the meantime, I caught sight of a large bird slowing cruising in from the SE from over the pylons. As soon as I got it in the bins I knew what it was...a flipping Osprey! What an earth was happening here??!
I quickly called Gareth AGAIN and then stood there enjoying the spectacle of both birds over the res. The Osprey was very slowly circling the reservoir and I was praying it would do some fishing. Unfortunately, after a few minutes of lingering, it obviously realised the surroundings weren't quite up to scratch! It circled higher, actually joined by the Kittiwake, before both birds drifted away to the NW.
To top it all off, my short walk back to the car produced a brief, but stunning male Redstart in the western perimeter bushes! Without a shadow of a doubt, my most exciting visit to the res yet! A brief visit in the evening, on my way home also produced my second summer plumaged Dunlin of the year, along with a couple of Common Sand, concluding a brilliant bird-filled day at Grimbo!
Wednesday (20/04) was a day I'd been looking forward to for a while, joining Dave James & Matt Whitelocke for a trip to the Forest of Dean, to be kindly shown around by Ben Locke. Number one target was the charismatic Wild Boar, in particular the piglets! With a stunning, sunny day ahead and of course a midweek day off work, there was lots to look forward to!
The day began with a mid-late morning look for Adders and we did well, seeing around 5-6. We were probably a little too late however, as they were already pretty active and didn't stick around. Very nice to see all the same!
The rest of the day was spent searching for Wild Boar families. We did pretty well too, particularly in the morning. One track gave us some great views, with a good number of super cute Piglets.
One particular sow also came over to inspect us and sniff us out! SO cool!
The afternoon produced more piggies, but always brief. We couldn't complain though after the late morning spectacle. We didn't see too many birds of note although we did have some great views of a few Ravens and a handful of Mandarins at Cannop Ponds. A few Fallow Deer near here late in the day were nice too.
We went home very happy indeed! A BIG thanks to Ben for taking us around for the day and to Dave and Matt for getting me along!
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