I'd already notched up Bullfinch and Great Spotted Woodpecker before leaving Elton as I set off up Greenhill this morning. The 'pecker was the first of at least 8 seen during the day. They seemed to be popping up everywhere. It is often a tricky species to find but with a noisy nesthole full of young in Lynch Wood is a virtual certainty right now.
Further up Greenhill a Garden Warbler was singing near Keeper's Cottage; another species not guaranteed. A Painted Lady flew up from the track just past the bypass.
The Linnets in the Bullock Road area failed to show but the Little Owl was out in the open along the Billing Brook and there were 2 Meadow Pipits singing nearby; often the only ones I see on a working day. Linnets showed shortly after just past the A1, shortly after a Cuckoo had flown over on the west side.
Approaching Orton BP another Great Spot and a Garden Warbler were singing from the wood and a Painted Lady flew over the farmland where a Red-legged Partridge was the only sighting of the day. A Grasshopper Warbler was singing again on the heathy area at the west for the first time in a while, perhaps preparing for a second brood. A Cuckoo also sang here.
Most of the common warblers appeared at OBP, including what looked like young Garden Warblers but I still hadn't heard Chiffchaff or Lesser Whitethroat as I headed off to CEGB passing yet another Great Spot.
The reservoir is the only site on my usual routes to hold Little Grebes in the summer and sure enough one showed here (they aren't always obliging). I also added a Redshank and Pied Wagtail, another species that often eludes me but I would see more of both of these later.
Next stop Fletton Lake. On the way a Lesser Whitethroat sang from alongside the railway line and a young Fox showed very well on the Ikea grassland. With water levels low the islands managed to attract a couple of Redshank and an adult Little Ringed Plover.
From here I headed into work via Town Bridge where the Sand Martins were active but I failed to see Grey Wagtail, the first of many sites I was to check for this species. A Sparrowhawk here was a bonus, even though I was to get another later in the morning flying over my office carrying prey.
Other often tricky species like Kestrel and Stock Dove had also shown on the way in so, with a good list of about 64 species already under the belt, I decided a bike ride out at lunchtime would be a good idea and headed off to Stanground Lock for a second dip on Grey Wagtail. Further on, Bradley Fen Pit came up trumps with another Redshank and a Little Egret but I could only see Mallard and Tufted Duck, and not the hoped for Pochard, Gadwall or Teal. The Millenium Bridge to Fitzwilliam Bridge is another dead cert for Grey Wagtail that failed to deliver. A Cuckoo flying over Padholme PS and a Gadwall on the outfall were the only consolation.
The Old Sewage Works managed to rescue what would have been a very embarrassing omission; Chiffchaff, the only one of the day! Sadly the Tawny Owl now seems to have abandoned the tree hole there.
The cycle home went past a Peregrine site and another two Grey Wagtail sites without adding either species. There were another 6 Redshank on the reserve at Ferry Meadows along with 5 Gadwall and one addition to the day list; a male Teal. A Kingfisher glimpsed as it dashed across Overton was my first for at least a couple of weeks and another bonus but that was the last addition to the day list on the way home.
All these Great Spotted Woodpeckers and I realised I still hadn't seen or heard Green Woodpecker all day. So I slipped out after tea and headed up to the church where the Spotted Flycatchers performed well but no Green Wood. I ended up flushing one from the roadside near Elton Bridge after checking the Mill and river for Grey Wagtail (along with Red Kite the only common species to elude me during the day).
The final tick of the day came from the bedroom window where a distant Common Buzzard could be seen hovering persistently over towards Fotheringhay.
Spotted Flycatcher Muscicapa striata
Little Grebe
Great Crested Grebe
Great Cormorant
Little Egret
Grey Heron
Mute Swan
Greylag Goose
Canada Goose
Gadwall
Teal
Mallard
Tufted Duck
Sparrowhawk
Buzzard
Kestrel
Red-legged Partridge
Pheasant
Moorhen
Coot
Little Ringed Plover
Lapwing
Redshank
Black-headed Gull
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Herring Gull
Common Tern
Feral Pigeon
Stock Dove
Woodpigeon
Collared Dove
Cuckoo
Little Owl
Swift
Kingfisher
Green Woodpecker
Great Spotted Woodpecker
Skylark
Sand Martin
Swallow
House Martin
Meadow Pipit
Pied Wagtail
Wren
Dunnock
Robin
Blackbird
Song Thrush
Mistle Thrush
Grasshopper Warbler
Sedge Warbler
Reed Warbler
Lesser Whitethroat
Whitethroat
Garden Warbler
Blackcap
Chiffchaff
Willow Warbler
Spotted Flycatcher
Long-tailed Tit
Blue Tit
Great Tit
Magpie
Jackdaw
Rook
Carrion Crow
Starling
House Sparrow
Chaffinch
Greenfinch
Goldfinch
Linnet
Bullfinch
Yellowhammer
Reed Bunting
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