It's all ging RING OUZEL mad....

FRIDAY 10 APRIL........

Whilst on BLOWS DOWNS (DUNSTABLE) searching for RING OUZELS (Lol Carman had found 2 in the quarry there), I got a call to say that Mike Wallen had seen good numbers up at IVINGHOE BEACON. I made a speedy exit from Blows and made my way there, parking up by the tea wagon on the main Ivinghoe road. Almost as soon as I arrived, RING OUZELS were to be seen, with at least 6 mobile birds in the hawthorn scrub and field to the north of Gallows Hill, moving east as far as the transmitter fields as I tried to keep on them. I followed the central track back towards the main car park and saw another three (2 in scrub beneath the car park and 1 not far way near the 'Nightingale hedgerow'. Joan then phoned me to say that she and Anna had just found another flock on Steps Hill - all still present when I joined them some 15 minutes later. The flock numbered 9 birds (including 7 males) and were favouring the bottom fenceline and occasionally showed well. As I walked down the slope, what may have been 5 different birds was in Inkombe Hole, the morning thus producing perhaps 23 individuals. The only other migrant I had in all of this time was a single singing male WILLOW WARBLER in Top Scrub. I was away by 1115 hours...

I then headed down to TRING RESERVOIRS where STARTOP'S yielded my first COMMON TERN of the year, as well as a male YELLOW WAGTAIL. The Mute Swan flock had increased to 11 (mostly first-summers and most probably including the 6 displaced youngsters from Tringford), while both Common Redshanks were still present, Common Kingfisher, 28 Tufted Duck, single Pochard, the female Red-crested Pochard, a singing WILLOW WARBLER on the far side of the canal, both Common Chiffchaff and Blackcap and a singing male Reed Bunting.

On neighbouring MARSWORTH, the reedbed by the overflow held my first 2 WESTERN REED WARBLERS of the year, with CETTI'S WARBLER, Common Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Jay, 6 Tufted Duck and 2 Linnets noted.

Meanwhile WILSTONE proffered a single Lapwing, 2 Oystercatchers, 16 Shoveler, 4 Pochard, 18 Teal, 2 Common Redshank, 52 Black-headed Gulls, the 4 Egyptian Geese, 4 Common Buzzards, Grey Wagtail and Stock Dove. A pair of GARGANEY were seen very, very briefly in flight as they darted out of Hide Creek before (same as yesterday) both different to the drake I found yesterday off of the east shore.

GARGANEY!

Roy Hargreaves discovered a drake GARGANEY first thing this morning, he and Dave Bilcock 'scoping it for a while before Stuart Wilson watched it disappear into the creek to the right of the hide. Steve Rodwell, Charlie, Francis, Mike Campbell all searched for it later but it wasn't until mid morning that I relocated it close-in to the jetty on the east side. It then remained in this vicinity for much of the afternoon.

Otherwise, Roy & Dave had a COMMON SANDPIPER on WILSTONE early on, while I recorded 4 MANDARIN DUCKS (2 separate pairs), a singing WILLOW WARBLER in East Wood, Kingfisher, 16 Teal, 2 Common Redshank, 4 Common Buzzard, 3 male Blackcap, Great Spotted & Green Woodpecker, Common Treecreeper and Goldcrest. In the Hide Creek, a female Mallard was accompanying 10 ducklings and a Coot was sitting.

At COLLEGE LAKE BBOWT, a singing male WILLOW WARBLER on the west side was new.

These last two shots depict a singing male WILLOW WARBLER - my first of the year

and Ian Williams photographs another true local mega - a MERLIN

This young MERLIN sped through WILSTONE on Sunday morning at around 10am, flying from Tring, over the Cemetery Corner and out over the jetty and Wingrave Road cereal fields. By some miracle, several observers witnessed the spectacle, including Dave Bilcock, Roy Hargreaves, Ian Williams, Richard Woodhead and Francis Buckle. Merlin is an incredible rare bird at the reservoirs, my last being in the 1980's.

Today, a single singing male WILLOW WARBLER was new in - singing from the East Wood.