May 15th and 16th (New Hythe)

15th,windy,westerly,rather cold.

Brookland Lake and the river  - good numbers of hirundine were flying low over the lake this morning with,100+ each of Swallow,House Martin and Swift,only 2 Sand Martin though.I was hoping for a Red-rumped,but try as I may,I just couldn`t turn a House Martin into one.A Hobby and a Kestral were seen briefly and a Grey Wagtail flew from the edge of the lake over towards the river,where 3 of this years young Grey Heron were seen trying out their fishing skills.I only saw 1 Shelduck,hopefully his mate is sitting tight on a nest somewhere. On the edge of the Sunken marsh,one of our scarce New Hythe breeding birds,a Sedge Warbler was still singing strongly from within a tangle of bramble and a Cuckoo called several times from the Eccles side of the river.I didn`t manage to find the Turtle Dove that had been reported in the area a few days ago.

16th,better day,hardly any wind and much brighter.

I was out at 05:30 this morning and managed to catch three Nightingale,two were new,one of which I   caught in the Brook House area and the other at the southern end of the Streamside lake.The third bird was a re trap.

T677041  ringed (5) male,breeding,23 04 2008,west scrub.(w.t. 19.0grm)

re trapped 27 04 2012,breeding by the pylon,east scrub.(19.3grm)

re trapped 16 04 2013,breeding by the Pylon,east scrub.(six years old) (w.t.20.0grm)