12th May

A lovely, sunny, calm morning with a light westerly wind which gradually changed into a very wet late afternoon with a strong SE wind saw only a few new arrivals with a Turtle Dove at Sangar, a smart breeding plumaged Curlew Sandpiper on Gretchen and a record equalling flock of 9 Tree Sparrows which bombed over Holland House in the afternoon the pick of the sightings.   Other birds recorded through the day included a Common Sandpiper, a Short-eared Owl at Ancum, two Tree Pipits, three Lesser Whitethroats, two Whitethroats, 4 Blackcaps, 5 Chiffchaffs, 4 Willow Warblers, a Spotted Flycatcher, 4 Pied Flycatchers, 10 Rooks feeding on a recently ploughed field, a Siskin and a Common Redpoll.

1st summer male Pied Flycatcher