Thursday 10th May 2012

Weather :- dull and overcast with few sunny spells and windy.

Only a quick, short walk around the woods, due to bad back and wrist. Great fun birding and trying to keep your back straight, but going crazy being stuck inside!

Woods :- Pretty quiet, great tit nest found and male feeding young, 2 buzzard soaring with one displaying. Three chiffchaff singing, with one at the entrance of woods. Goldcrest, mistle thrush, treecreeper and nuthatch gave brief views. Otherwise all the usual suspects - blue tits, jays, magpies, carrion crows, etc. First swift and 3 house martins of the year seen, flying around by Doultan Clay Pit.

Reservior :- 6 coots, (3 fighting), 2 great-crested grebes asleep and and 2nd year mute swans.

Insects :- orange tip butterfly, lots of 7 spot ladybirds and a 22 spot seen. Red-tailed and buff-tailed bumblebees. Also longhorn moth - Adela reaumurella.

Flowers :- dead white nettle, last of the yellow archangel flowering, wood anemone, ramsons, herb robert and lots and lots of bluebells. Showing why it's one of the best bluebell woods in the borough.