I visited the reservoir late this afternoon in the hope of catching up with a male Stonechat for my personal patch year list. It was found earlier in the day by John Friendship-Taylor and I'm pleased to say it was still there when I went (but rather distant - so luckily John got a shot earlier.). This is species number 72 for the year list and a sign of things to come. There were three Goosanders still present (one drake) and some movement of gulls through at the reservoir. John also had the Willow Tit and a Chiffchaff in the woodland.
It is difficult to know whether to class the Stonechat (and the Curlew seen by Reg and Mike on Tuesday) as spring migrants or not. Although they aren't considered by a lot of people a true migrant, they are definitely on the move back to breeding places. They may have only been wintering further south in the UK and be on the way to northern England or Scotland or they may have wintered in a country further south and be on their way to a country further north. The exact details we will never know..
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| Courtesy and copyright of John Friendship-Taylor |
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| Courtesy and copyright of John Friendship-Taylor |
The water levels in the river have been lowered by the Environment Agency so that they can undertake an inspection of the channel. The low water level has exposed some fresh sediment which is the perfect place to look for animal prints. The Otters have obviously been in the area within the last 24 hours as there were three fresh spraints under the railway bridge and lots of fresh footprints in the mud. I could clearly see the direction they had moved in and they had been out and back to the water twice but it was difficult to confirm the number of animals.
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