What a beautiful day!

Had a lazy morning today, went round the local patch an hour later than I should have done and was penalised by all the dog walkers with loose dogs running through all the scrub which was not very helpful. At least 2 new Common Whitethroat were recorded bringing the total to 3 birds now on the patch however the patch seems to be really popular with Lesser Whitethroat, with at least 6/7 birds singing/calling at different areas. The most excitement came in the form of Garden Warbler, a new addition to the year list with 3 birds singing from areas of dense scrub, however every time I stalked up to one a dog would appear and flush the bird off! Several Chiffchaff and Blackcap were showing well and the single Willow Warbler was still singing away at Patch Pond. Species X still present too. A very vocal Black-headed Gull flew over, also noted overflying the site was a single Greylag Goose and several immature Lesser Black-backed Gulls. A single male Reed Bunting was also seen, as was displaying Greenfinch, and all of the regular birds (2/3 pairs of Bullfinch, nest building Long-tailed Tit, Goldfinch, Linnet, Great and Blue Tit, Wren, lots of Dunnock - extremely common, Song Thrush and Blackbird). A single Lapwing at Patch Flash was unusual but nice to see nevertheless. Mallard and Moorhen were recorded on Patch Pond. A small white butterfly was seen but again it got away before I could get a decent look at it - I was with one of my dogs at this point, the one that is quite good at catching and eating them, so I didn't want to get too close to it - just in case!!! No hirundines or swifts was disappointing.

This evening we went over onto the wolds to a friends birthday party. Several Swallows were recorded on the drive to the Kilham area, and several Tree Sparrows were seen around my friends house, however pride of place has to go to the Barn Owl that was hunting along a minor road at about 7pm, the bird showed superbly down to a few feet, seemingly not bothered by our presence. On the return journey at least two owls were seen briefly in the headlights.

I also had a bit of time spare so I thought I'd add some of my bird pictures from around the world!