Wednesday 17th. April 2013

I have been bursting to get out and see/hear the Nightingales since they arrived , and posted by several fellow Bloggers . Ideally , I would have liked to have got out early , but I had to wait in for a delivery , and as it turned out , it was similar weather to yesterday morning , wet and windy , but better was promised for the afternoon . The delivery arrived just before lunchtime and so did a brightness in the weather . Taking a chance , I headed for New Hythe , and headed for the scrubby area near the industrial area . I parked up and walked towards the site , only to encounter a situation before I even got to the barrier , but more of that next post . Halfway along the track the magical sound of a singing male Nightingale exploded from an area of Hawthorn and Elder , and search as I could , I couldn't find the bird , not unusual with the species . A second singing male just before the ditch also went unfound . I retraced my steps slowly , but still didn't see either bird . Reaching the barrier , I took the track to a small car park , where beyond , I could hear at least another male singing . The singing stopped as I approached , so I did the same , to play a waiting game . Trouble was , the Nightingales played the game better , and moved back onto the track that I had been walking . Next to where I had been waiting was a Goat Willow , covered in catkins , and many birds came and fed , either on the pollen or insects attracted to the pollen , but not the Nightingales . One of

the visitors to the tree was this female Blackcap . Whilst she was delicately feeding on the catkins , a

male was in full song , but for the time being , she seemed more interested in eating than anything else . As can be seen , by now the sun had broken through and lifted the temperature , which seemed to cause the male Nightingales to stop singing . I spent quite some time walking between the barrier and the diver's bridge , getting only a couple of short burst of song for my efforts . On the edge of the

scrub area , I did find Ground Ivy - Glechoma hederacea , a member of the Labiate family , in flower , along with single Small Tortoiseshell and Peacock and three Commas , two of them spiralling skyward in a courting dance . At least one Willow Warbler was heard deep in the scrub and one of the visits at the diver's bridge , one of several Common Whitethroats was singing , whilst

being tossed backwards and forwards by the still strong wind . I had been keeping an eye out for Water Voles along the ditch as well , and was standing on the diver's bridge wondering how Phil / Sharp by Nature , manages to find them seemingly at will . Does he sing , or whistle to attract them , or even a tap dance on the wooden bridge might do the trick ?  Whilst I pondered , a lady birder arrived at the bridge and we passed on what we had seen , which was pretty similar . She then asked if I knew where the Water Voles could be seen , and as I turned and pointed down the ditch towards

the industrial area , up popped a Water Vole not 3 mtrs. from where we were standing , and started eating . As Phil said on his post , it did seem less at ease than other times , and soon swam under the

bridge to the other side , before disappearing into the bankside vegetation . The lady was very impressed and asked if |I was one of the local bloggers . I said that I was a visitor . I did think of saying that I was Phil/Sharp by Nature , but heaven knows what can of worms that might have opened up ! The lady left happy with her sighting , and with a veil of cloud masking the sun , I headed back towards the car . That cloud seemed to wake up the males again , and I soon got my first

sighting , but I only managed two shots , before the bird dropped into scrub , to give a full rendition of all it's notes . In all , I heard a minimum of 6 birds and had sightings of 3 , including this one that

was singing his heart out at the time . Back home , I think we're going to have to change the name of

the Blue Tit box on the side of the garage , just outside the kitchen window .
And finally , I would just say that the previously mentioned situation encountered on the start of the visit , should probably have a 'S' classification .