Best Day at Amwell in Years

Well I went down to Amwell this morning, not expecting to see a great deal. I was puzzled by the large number of cars parked along the lane, as there was nothing on the pager, but when I got up to the watchpoint Phil told me the Wood Warbler was showing down by the James Hide. I noticed that there were two Little Ring Plovers flying around the island as I departed, nice as they had been pretty well absent all year.
I joined the big crowd where the Warbler was singing continuously in the birches and sycamores, but was very flighty even though it was pretty close at times. i managed to get some decent images over the course of the morning. One or two Cuckoos were calling as well, and there were large numbers of House Martins and a few Swifts flying overhead.

Bill and Barry were there and they mentioned that Barry had seen the Pied Flycatcher earlier, but it had not been seen since. A number of us decided to watch the alders across the river and eventually it was spotted. Rather elusive but for a brief moment it showed well on a clear branch. I went up to the walkway, being joined by Tony and the sunday crew where another birder had been watching it above his head. It had however vanished, but reappeared briefly before flying across the river. Expecting it to return we did not realise it had ended up outside the James Hide alongside the Wood Warbler.
Eventually I got down there and managed to get a few record shots. We were then distracted by a superbly performing Treecreeper only a few feet away.

I made my way back up to the watchpoint, where there were now three Little Ring Plovers, one Oystercatcher one Common Tern and a Shelduck. I could  not hear any Grasshopper Warblers so went back down the path and soon heard a very loud individual in the brambles by the reed bed. Needless to say Sedge and Reed warblers were also singing, plus many Blackcaps and a few Garden Warblers.

 Before leaving I had a last look at the Wood Warbler and Pied Fly, getting decent views of the latter at last.