Monday 5 April 2010

Easter Monday









Decided to have a quiet morning in the Lea Valley with my camera. Shame the weather forecast was a bit wrong again-breezy and cloudy. At least it was warmer than yesterday.
I decided to start at Rye Meads, as I have not been there for a while now. Lots of early migrants singing-Blackcaps and Chiffchaff everywhere. Also good to hear Cetti's Warblers all over the place.
Nothing of note on the scrapes or lagoons-I had hoped for a few waders and maybe an early Common Tern. A pair of Jays foraging on the path were a bit unusual, but too far to get a good image.
I spent quite a while in the Kingfisher hide, which was rather crowded. A pair of nest building Stock Doves was some distraction. I heard two Kingfishers but there was no sign, until someone noticed an orange spot in the water under the trees.

Unfortunately all we saw of the bird was it's feet.
On the way back, I heard my first Sedge Warbler of the year, and a few parties of Swallow went over.
I decided to see what if anything had changed at Amwell. An Osprey had gone through early in the morning, and the Yellow Wagtail had been seen again. Only Bill Last was present, and he had not seen anything out of the ordinary. Flocks of Sand Martin and Swallow were pouring through, and there were even more Blackcap singing than yesterday.
A walk down to the river produced a singing Willow Warbler, but staking out a Blackcap was unsuccessful, all I could photograph were a Robin, and several clumps of Narcissi.