An early start at Druridge this morning for my second mapping visit of the breeding season. A little bit of light rain first thing soon cleared to leave a bright, sunny morning.
Generally, it seemed quieter than ten days ago, which is a little odd. Skylark and meadow pipit numbers are back up to full strength and it was really encouraging to see a pair of stonechats carrying nesting material and at least five pairs of grey partridges and eight singing reed buntings.. Worrying though was the lack of dunnocks (1 singing male) and wrens (two singing males).
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| male stonechat |
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| female stonechat with nesting material |
On the migrant front, two more swallows were logged and at last, three wheatears were added to the list.
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| one of three wheatears |
In the dunes, the common dog violets are flowering amongst the even more common dog shit.
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| common dog violet |
93 wheatear
Great pictures.
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