I never stop talking about the weather! It was nice to do a WeBS (Wetland Bird Survey) in warm sunshine today though, something which hasn't happened for some time! Here are this morning's results....
122 tufted duck, 82 mallard, 15 teal, 9 gadwall, 1 pochard, 1 goldeneye, 21 mute swan, 13 canada goose, 4 greylag goose, 2 shelduck, 70 coot, 1 moorhen, 5 little egret, 3 grey heron, 6 great crested grebe, 5 little ringed plover, 1 ringed plover, 3 oystercatcher, 3 lapwing, 1 redshank, 1 green sandpiper, 2 snipe, 2 cormorant.
And some photos from this morning....
My first comma of 2013 - there were two together on the public footpath near the woodland.
Bombylius major, a bee fly, fantastic little insects - members of the Order Diptera (True Flies).
Pied shieldbug, or Tritomegas bicolor - there were lots of these among the emerging nettles by the woodland.
The green shieldbug, or Palomena prasina, this species loses it's green colouration in the winter, regaining it again in the spring - this individual is yet to turn green.
Bombus pascuorum, the common ginger bumblebee - my first of the year by the silt lagoons.