All Fired Up . .

A memorable morning ringing in Woodbridge today with two superb female Firecrests being trapped & ringed. There are good numbers of these beautiful birds turning up along the east coast at the moment & it was great to get a sense of this spring movement further inland along the estuary here. Another highlight was flushing up & managing to catch by hand, a Woodcock, without damage to human or bird! Also controlled a Robin today & 3 Lesser Redpoll yesterday, so look forward to getting information back on these from the BTO at a later date. Popped to East Lane, Bawdsey in the early afternoon looking for my first Wheatear of the Spring, but found a nice Black Redstart instead - in the carpark. . . .

Minsmere in March

Saturday saw an enjoyable few hours spent at Minsmere RSPB Reserve in sunny, mild conditions. Black-headed Gull's filled the scrape Islands with noisy interactions and courtships, 12+ smart Med Gulls were noted amongst them, most now in full summer plumage. Island Mere hide did not give us the Penduline Tits we hoped for but the sight of a Bittern, fully visible out in front of the hide was compensation enough! I got a few shots of it hunting and feeding - a real treat! A Jack Snipe bobbed about nearby too & Marsh Harriers jostled with each other & dived down into their reedbed nest sites. On the way back to the main cafe building for lunch we heard a Firecrest in deep scrub. I managed a few record shots of this little gem . . .

'Hogging all the Bread'

We had a really enjoyable long weekend up in Glasgow the weekend before last, visiting friends in their new abode in 'rural' north Glasgow. The journey up was a mere 7 1/2 hours! but with Costa Coffee & Burger King to keep us fat & entertained on the way up, as well as our cheesy music selection, time just flew by. As well as memorable wine sampling, 'wii' playing & meals out in a local pub (where we had our first ever taste of 'Haggis'), Indian Restaurant & a delicious Italian 'at home' we also managed to get out into the air occasionally . . .

I was amazed to see Goosander's scrapping for bread along with gulls & coots at Hogganfield (all pics shown) but not so amazed at dipping a Firecrest at Gosford Estate (great area though & we did see 2 nuthatch). We also briefly visited SOC HQ & had a very fresh walk along the coast at Musselburgh, where we spotted numerous Velvet Scoters, Long-tailed Ducks, a couple of GC Grebe, 1 Slav Grebe, Barwits, Knot & flushed a smart Lapland Bunting along the path which we called through to birdline Scotland. After doubling our hosts 'house list' & enjoying his fine river & mountain window views it was time to depart south again! Where's the coffee . . . .