SUNDAY 18 th April (Jon Lloyd and Steve France)

A fairly early call from Steve on Sunday morning had me hurrying of to the Wall. He had seen 3 male Black Tailed Godwit on the gap - you know the GAP - the only bit we could see last year when we had some interesting migrants on the back pool. By the time I arrived.............................................

Yes you guessed they had gone!! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

The usual gathering of Grebes, Canadian Geese ( a fairly recent acquisition!!) and Coots (2 on nests) were assembled.A couple of Swallows passed over and there were two male Tufted Duck on the open water.

As I left the hide a single Common Sandpiper called nearby but I couldn't locate it.

Monday 19th - Pete Jordan

Pete also had a female Wheatear and 2 male Yellow Wagtail.

Wednesday 21st - Martin Grant

I recorded a Little Ringed Plover that circled the pools at 13.15pm then flew off to the North West, also 2 Chiff Chaffs and a Willow Warbler.

Saturday 23 rd April Jon Lloyd

Fantastic day – bright sun, blue sky and very warm.

A heard a Cuckoo not long after getting out of the car on the farm drive and had already heard one at Preston some minutes earlier.

I went down early this morning and walked through the hawthorn paddock on the wall of the old fort. Lots of small birds around but no Curlew out on the eastern fields. This is where they had bread in previous years and I was disappointed. A pair of Curlew had been around but where are they breeding? Perhaps I just didn't see them.

Lots of butterflies out and about and I saw several Orange Tips, Small White and Small Tortoiseshells in my travels. The copse around Poor Piece Bridge was full of small birds. Blackcaps, Whitethroat, Willow Warbler and Chiffchaff had all been singing.

The pools were busy with Canadian Geese and two Mute Swans. There were 17 Geese in all and any that dared approach the bird sitting were well and truly chased off. I also saw a tag match going on between a group of 4 Moorhen. It was usual bravado at first, head down and wings and tail up in a typical intimidation pose. That failed so two males faced up and went at it head to head. A passing Coot took exception to this going on anywhere near its sitting mate and went straight into the offensive. The Moorhens split and ran(swam) but the Coot followed one, grabbed it and pulled out a good chunk of feathers before the bird made it to dry land and scuttled off into rush cover.

Near the hide several Male Reed Buntings were in competition for a female that was hanging about. Great views from the window onto the nearest bush. This went badly when a male Sparrowhawk arrived sat in the same bush having missed its quarry on the way it. It turned its head sharply this way and that watching every movement of every bird in the vicinity. It was lucky at last when a Greenfinch dropped in to check out the feeders behind the hide and the Sparrowhawk left of its perch and darted after it. Judging by the commotion behind the hide it was successful. A few minutes later a pair of Willow Tits turned up in the copse by the feeders.

On return I met………….. who had been checking out the owl nest boxes on the farm. The jackdaws tend to get into the Little Owl boxes early and they need clearing out for the owls.

A pair of Jackdaws was not treated so well by a nesting Barn Owl evidenced by the broken jackdaw eggs at the floor below the box. I am not sure how the Little owls are doing. They were certainly around last year in three main areas on the farm but I didn't see any owlets. Hopefully the efforts of ……..will help to improve the situation this year. The last box behind the farm held a Tawny Owl. Obviously the nest box tactics are helping and if the Barn Owl situation continues to improve they we may return to a situation where seeing Barn Owls hunting on the Weald moors and the surrounding land becomes a more regular feature.

As we stood discussing the morning finds the Curlew called in the distance and a Swallow flew overhead.