First COMMON REDSTART of the year

As I have done for the past month, I checked the dung heap by the road - west of Wilstone's old overflow. As usual no sign of any Wheatears, but a superb male COMMON REDSTART in the hedge behind made all the fruitless checks worthwhile. David Bilcock got back to see it, and later Mike Campbell, but it was not seen later when LGRE and Stuart Wilson searched exhaustively for it. Little else to report apart from another Willow Warbler singing by the Dry Canal. This afternoon the female Red-crested Pochard was on Marsworth as was the hybrid - which really does look like a Pochard x Red-crested Pochard cross. Reasonable flocks of Sand Martins over Wilstone and Marsworth/Startops, with 10+ Barn Swallows and at least one House Martin over Marsworth. Also two singing CETTI'S WARBLERS in the Marsworth reedbeds (Roy Hargreaves)