Belated catch up from the weekend

I've been away, so here is a catch up from the weekend.

It was to windy to put any nets up for ringing at the weekend, but we did manage to ring a family party of four lapwing chicks on Friday evening. There were also at least 20 whimbrel on the fields.

I had a wander around the patch on Saturday afternoon, dodging the showers. There had obviously been an influx of swifts and most of the resident warblers were singing and a couple of yellow wagtails were noted.

On Sunday, it was still windy. There were a few wheatears about on the dunes and one or two were definitely of the greenland race. There is also a notable number of linnets around at Druridge this year, more than usual. Most of them aren't on territory yet, just roving about in a big flock. I had a walk up to the Preceptory, but found nothing unusual.

Tonight we ringed another four lapwing chicks, two from a brood of four (two evaded us) and another brood of two. There are still a a few birds sitting, so it is looking like a good year for lapwing on the Budge fields.

Lapwing chick

Most exciting tonight was a family party of shoveler, a pair and four tiny ducklings. Him and her were marching the tiny chicks across the fields to another pool. Shoveler breed most years at Druridge, one of the few places they breed in the County.

There was no sign of any spoonbill, garganey or wood sandpiper, all of which were reported today.

I've been down to Lincolnshire on a training course looking at the creation of coastal grazing marshes. I picked up some good ideas that I would like to see implemented at Druridge, time for a conversation with NWT!