With a free afternoon and such lovely weather, it seemed the obvious decision to go down to Woolmer to see what was about. I was hoping the Whooper would be present again, but sadly, when I got there, it was seemingly not. All the usuals were on the lake, with a few Lesser Black-backed Gulls there as well. The Greylags that had been present the previous few weeks seemed to have moved on, but all the Canada Geese were still there. A female Mallard was swimming around with a few very cute ducklings.
Nothing interesting was on the pond, but a few Red Kites and Buzzards were circling overhead. At the cottage, the Garden Warbler was singing and a few Sand Martins and Swallows were flying about.
Seeing as the flags were down, I headed into the forest, where a rather obliging Chaffinch was singing.
Looking over the heathland at the top of the hill, all that was obvious were a few Woodlark, Tree Pipit, and a Great Spotted Woodpecker calling. Stonechat were abundant, and a Dartford Warbler was about as well. A Wren happily sang down in the middle, and a Kestrel flew overhead.
After having some lunch, I headed off to a part of the forest I hadn't explored much. A Linnet was sitting in a tree, and Robins were singing from everywhere. A few Woodlark were around, all singing very nicely. After a few more minutes watching the birds out in the open, I decided it would be best to find some shade- it was absolutely sweltering!
After some much-needed rest, I got back on my bike and started off again. A Dartford Warbler perched in a tree a couple of meters away, but the terrible heat haze was a bit of a problem.
After a while more with no birds about, I heard a Yellowhammer calling, my first this year here. As I headed over towards the sound of its call, I noticed a bird in the corner of my eye- the Hobby. Pleased to have seen it again, I watched it for a few minutes before realising there wasn't just one, but two of them! When they had flown off, I found the Yellowhammer in a tree, really love their yellow coloration- so beautiful.
As I walked on a bit more, I found the Hobby again circling over some heathland, but it kept on disapearing so I couldn't get any shots.
After making it back to the cottage, I checked the area again, but all that surfaced was a Song Thrush. I thought it might be worth making a circuit of the pond, to see if the Whooper may have been on a bank out of view somwhere. As I made it round to the back of the pond, nothing stood out, except for a silhouted shape of a wader where the Whooper had been the day before. I thought it might have been the Greenshank returned, but when looked at through my binoculars, it was a Lapwing- a bird I have never seen here before.
It flew off almost immediately, and because of the sun I couldn't tell in what direction. Nothing else of note turned up around the pond, and I went over towards the cottage again. A Mistle Thrush was calling from a tree, and the Song Thrush was still around. Deciding that it was probably time to leave, I biked off around the pond one last time before heading towards the track away from the cottage, and I was surprised to see two Greylag Geese relatively near the fence. Sadly it seems as though they wouldn't be staying, and they flew off north.
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