I also heard a Willow Warbler and managed to locate it, but it was in the young woodland area and stayed in areas of thick cover so I couldn't get any decent shots. A male Blackcap sung, and a female was nearby.
I was very pleased to find a number of Tree Sparrows near nest boxes. One of them was being chased by a Blue Tit, maybe competing for a box? Unfortunately, there was no trace of Yellowhammers in the farm.§
The highlight of the day for me was finding a number of Dark-edged Bee-Flies, Bombylius major. One fed on primroses and then sunbathed for a while. Others were egg laying on colonies of mining bee (Andrena sp.). They were most fascinating to watch. They hovered near the ground, and either stopped to rest or laid eggs, by swaying their body towards the bees nest holes.
Male Chaffinch
Singing Chiffchaff
The flowering blackthorn.
Goldfinch collecting pigeon feathers for nest lining.
Sunbathing peacock.
Moorhen chicks. I counted seven.
Parent feeds the chicks.
Moorhen and chicks
Bullfinches were very visible today. I counted four at the same time. This male feeds on buds.
Tree Sparrow
Tree Sparrow
Comma on the flowering blackthorn.
Sunbathing Bee-fly
This, like the one at the top of the post shows the egg laying process, as the fly drops eggs on the soil by nest entrances.
A quick bask on the soil
This is one of the females of the large Mining bee, Andrena nigroaenea (many thanks to Ian Beavis for ID) that nested on the soil heaped up after digging ponds.
Bee-Fly feeding on primroses.
Bird list- Blackbird
- Blackcap
- Blue Tit
- Bullfinch
- Buzzard
- Carrion Crow
- Chaffinch
- Chiffchaff
- Coal Tit
- Collared Dove
- Dunnock
- Feral Pigeon
- Goldfinch
- Great Tit
- Greenfinch
- House Sparrow
- Jackdaw
- Kestrel
- Long-tailed Tit
- Mallard
- Moorhen
- Mute Swan
- Pheasant
- Pied Wagtail
- Robin
- Rook
- Skylark
- Tree Sparrow
- Willow Warbler
- Woodpigeon
- Wren
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