Lincolnshire

Beautiful warm and sunny day in Lincolnshire on Sunday. Nightingale singing at Whisby NR plus good numbers of Garden Warbler. Then onto Frampton RSPB where we saw Wood Sandpiper, Yellowhammer, Corn Bunting, Avocet, Lesser Whitethroat, Cettis Warbler, Ruff among other common birds

Terek Sandpiper, Garganey and Nightingale

Not a bad day out yesterday in warm sunny conditions. Got a pair of Garganey at Fairburn Ings. Then onto Covenham Reservoir in Lincolnshire where we had distant views of Terek Sandpiper. We finished off at Whisby for Nightingale and good views of Garden Warbler and then to Idle Valley where we failed to see Turtle Dove but saw a drake Mandarin Duck and had good views of Reed Warbler

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Nightingale Bluethroat and Montagu's Harrier

Quality not quantity today. The main objective was to see Nightingale at Whisby Gravel Pits near Lincoln so we set off from home at 5. We had great success immediately hearing at least 2 birds north of the railway line and quickly getting some excellent views and pictures. Job done!

It was then a tossup to somewhere on the East coast to connect with spring migrants. We opted for Norfolk and went in search of the Bluethroat at Cley. I had the briefest view of a flash of blue, quick display and then back into the reeds. Sorry Dave! Sadly there were no more sign of the bird for the next 2 hours although we did see a Hobby pass through and had a Little Owl sat on a wall.

All was not lost though as we went inland to a site that has seen Montagu's Harrier in the past and were rewarded with crippling views of a male hunting over the adjacent field. Just a shame I didn't concentrate on my camera's autofocus settings in the excitement.....