A day too late

Friday 17th April 2009

Yesterday was a doing things and visiting sort of day, although I did have to shoot off up the road(A5)to check out a Marsh Harrier which had been reported over fields around Hartshill sewage farm. I also had a quick look in at Coton late in the day where I saw my first Warwicks. Whitethroat(142).

Today I had to give Draycote a go after the unbelievable list of species which were seen there yesterday. Weather conditions were similar except there was no heavy rain. Heavy rain does seem to be an important factor in the appearance of paleagic species at Draycote. Today the mist hung over the water and a walk along Farnborough bank produced a promising start with 2 Wheatears, a Sedge warbler and Whitethroat. Despite the poor visability the familiar shape of John Harris - a stranger to these parts, could be made out. We scanned the water and amongst the Black headed Gulls were groups of Terns and Little Gulls. We reckoned there were 9 Arctic terns and a couple of Common terns. There were 10 Little Gulls, 5 1st summer and 5 Adult. We were joined by Mike Inskip as we made our way along Toft bank. We came across 5 Dunlin feeding along the waters edge. Mike took us on a tour around the reservoir we saw a few more Yellow wagtails and a Common Sandpiper near the windsurfing area. Mike and John dropped me off at the Coffee van and went on to explore Napton. As the weather brightened I walked round to the inlet, a single Great northern Diver was visible. The only other bird of note was a Peregrine falcon over the Sailing club car park.

Ok thats the bird stuff out of the way but there were other sights of interest including a remote controlled lawn mower and a thigh powered perambulator. I cant think of a better description. It was a cross between a child's scooter and ski's. Presumably it was an exercise machine for developing the adductor group of muscles, or inner thigh muscles. Down boy. I thought it was worth a photo anyway.