Nature Notes - Warblers & All

Having in the past been proud of our Swallows & Spotted Flycatchers, this year they are noticeably down in numbers. This may of course be a false statement, caused by the noticeable increase in birds of species simply drowning out the Swallow / Flycatcher numbers.

So here is a run-down of what we have been seeing in the last few weeks...

Sparrows by the shedload - mostly of the House variety, but a few Tree variants as well.

Buntings - Corn/Field type in soem quantity, plus a few Reed Buntings for good measure. Given that we now have a Ford in our vehicle fleet (Don't, it still pains me to accept this) it is only a matter of time before we get the photo of a Bunting Ford (geddit?).

Sedge Warblers are back on the reedbed, as are Reed Warblers. Boy can they make some noise between them, especially after dark....

A Yellow Wagtail has been making themselves obvious, alongside the usual Pied variants.

We have a few Robins, most of them cocky and of the opinion that we are in their way...

The Red Kite is getting more common (we are on the edge of their expanding Chiltern territory), and of course the Buzzards, Kestrels & Sparrowhawks are as common as ever. There are tales of the Marsh Harrier being sighted, and of a Red Tailed Falcon (which apparently is basically a Buzzard really, no doubt escaped from a collection).

What we haven't seen or heard much of though are the Owls - but they are around still, in Barn, Tawny, Little & Short Eared forms.

Of course it is only June, so plenty of time yet for more. And of course we have the Blackbirds, Thrushes, Jays, etc etc etc all still frigging around as well.