Dan & I met up at Boddington Reservoir on Good Friday (30/03). It was a surprise to find at least 3 Brambling feeding on rotting fruit, amongst leave litter along the E side of the reservoir. There were also 4-5 Chiffchaff and we had brief views of a foraging Water Rail which was rather cool.
It's been nice to see the return of a few Curlew to the area this spring. Over the Easter weekend, I saw up to 4 birds and it's been a real pleasure to hear them bubbling in this part of the world; a reminder of what a fantastic evocative noise they produce!
I visited Thenford on Saturday (31/03), in the hope that there were some Hawfinches about. I was in luck too, soon locating 4 birds in a tall Hornbeam close to the church (three of them below). Just before leaving, I also got to enjoy a male singing in the top of another nearby tree which was fantastic to see!
Finally, I have been keeping an eye on the fields and floodwater just west of Brackley, an area that seems to have a bit of potential for producing a few birds, being quite high up in relation to the local landscape. This winter the area has already produced Merlin, Caspian & Yellow-Legged Gulls, as well as plenty of Skylarks and Yellowhammers.
The Easter break produced the rather random sighting of a lone drake Mandarin on Saturday 31/03 and better still, 3 migrant male Wheatears and a couple of White Wagtail on Monday 02/04 & Tuesday 03/04.
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