I dashed out for a pre-work walk around the Brooks this morning, in the hope of finding some migrants. It was a bit quiet, with a few Reed Warblers in, but not the hoped for Grasshopper Warbler, which has ignored some good looking habitat for quite a few years now. Setting out for a brisk walk back to get to my desk in reasonable time, it all went wrong: there was a Gropper yelling its head off where I’d been 20 minutes earlier. Of course Karen wasn’t there, but she was able to dash over in a quarter of an hour while it was still noisy. Eventually it showed, never unobscured, but the closest and loudest Gropper we’ve ever had. I’ll admit it: I might have been a bit late to my desk.
Spot the difference
Bird migration is moving slowly, but insects provided a bit of interest today. The garden had bees, hoverflies and a Dark-edged Bee Fly, some Mining Bees nesting in the road gave us an ID challenge, and then, only a few hours after we discovered that there is another cute Bee Fly species in the area, we were surrounded by them. Looking back, my last post had a picture of a Dotted Bee Fly as well, but we didn’t spot the difference, because we’d never heard of it.
Easter
As spring advances, the birds are trickling in, with the first Swallows in from the sea being a highlight for me. The pond is livening up and the butterflies are increasing.