Mondays WeBS count was promising to be spectacular due to excellent conditions on Eldernell Wash and the March Farmers land that is shallowly flooded grassland mixed with arable weeds. The following totals of wigeon and Teal blew the long standing records out of the water!
Wigeon 22,571 Previous record 13533
teal 9012 Previous record 4000
Pintail 2400
Mallard 898
Gadwall 144
Bewick's swan 947
Whooper swan 299
Taiga Bean Goose 3
Crane 2
Icelandic Black tailed godwit 2220
Also the pair of peregrines continue to reside at Eldernell and the imm female on the Low wash.

Stonechat feeding association!

This stonechat has recently spent whole days with me whilst working on the corncrake pens, often approaching to within 4 metres. He finds worms and various insects from the soil that I am changing from within the pens. He will even come in through the door to investigate, so I have to ensure its closed when i leave!

March Farmers spectacular

Common cranes

sky full of wigeon, pintail and 1000 black tailed godwits

Bewicks swans, up to 1300 present, mostly feeding on washland grass, a nice change from winter wheat and oilseed crops.

Bean Geese

Classic Tundra Bean Goose with short necks, triangular and very stout bill with text-book orange marking on bill.

Birds showing more orange on bill makes the impression/illusion that the bill is longer.

5 Bean Geese on March Farmers, 2 had what I would desribe as normal rossicus bill pattern and the other 3 more towards fabalis type. Build wise they are definately Rossicus (Tundra). General field guides do not show these bill variarions.

spoony visited the washes last week, favouring a shallow ditch alongside 15 little egrets.
Skylark nest, just hatched out, the punkiest chicks i've ever seen.
Corncrake release's continue
Returning males increased to 12-14 , which is a major leap in the project so far. Calling patterns also indicate that birds are doing what they should be with lots of second phase territories being set up. Its vital that females breed twice to produce enough young to set-up a sustainable population, this means delaying mowing in their chosen fields until mid-August.

Montagu's harrier, male briefly on fence post and flying off north.

Good signs of progress with the re-introduction of corncrakes to the Nene Washes with up to 10 returning males now heard singing on site.

Tha business end of spring - chick rearing

Returning male corncrake

Water flooding through the Stanground sluice into Moretons leam. The Nene Washes act as pressure release valve for the lower river Nene as it has done for around 500 years now, its worth remembering that without this function Peterborough would be a little damper!

The fire at Abbey produce, making my contribution to carbon savings a little insignificant

Part of the 5000 or so Icelandic black tailed godwits that provided the Nene Washes with a new spectacle, the previous winter record count was 1746 earlier on in February.
Quite a few of the birds are colour ringed, indicatingthat most birds had recently been on the east coast at sites like breydon water, the wash and the humber estuary, but some had also come from Chichester harbour on the south coast and the Dee estuary.

Wikipedia quote. The stoat's coat is a rich medium brown with an off-white belly. In winter, the coat is thicker and in regions that experience an inch or more of snow for at least forty days of the year (I used to be alot colder here in winter!) the color changes to clean white. This white fur is known as "ermine", a term originating either from the Latin phrase "Armenius mūs" ("Armenian rat") or from a word common to the Germanic and Baltic languages, hence the scientific name. At this stage the stoat itself may be referred to as ermine, or as being "in ermine".

New views on the washes looking west - Mc cains "chip" factory, hanson brickworks and 3 new wind turbines, not forgetting the electricity pylons, and last but not least the setting sun.

American mink -slightly blurred picture, they have poor eyesight, hence this pic taken at 4meters distance and not disturbed by me, though when hunting as this animal was they never seem to stop moving. still a rare photo opportunity

Pics from Fam Holiday to Sicily

Scarlet Darter

Plain Tiger

Queen of spain fritillary - seen 3000mtrs up Mount Etna attracted to bare steaming Lava.
Large Wall Brown
Bath White
Pigmy or Mediteranean Skipper
Plain Tiger

Southern White Admiral
Swallowtail
Two-taile Pasha - amazing

Long tailed blue - abundant around Mt Etna

Record shots of juvenile Purple heron on the Low Wash, taken at c100mtrs in the wind

Todays release of Corncrakes onto the Nene Washes brought this years total to 77, we are well on target to release over 100 this year.

2 juvenile Black Tailed Godwits. note the difference in neck tone (perhaps the male/female characteristics can show through even at this age?)
flock of 26 Little Egrets, the washes record was broken (a weekly occurence lately) on monday when I counted 35 together around one of the last remaining pools.