End of a Long Winter Term
The classes should all have ended last Friday, but the Tuesday and Wednesday sessions were one week behind because of the snowfall the other week. We caught up by going to Blacktoft Sands. Unfortunately, it rained almost all Tuesday morning. despite this we saw or heard several species we hadn't yet encountered on a Tuesday in 2018. The first were several Avocets, which flew over in small parties throughout the morning. The most we saw were about 8 at any one time. Flocks of Black-tailed godwits were also seen, and I glimpsed a swiftly moving Water Rail at Townend Hide. However, the star bird was a relatively confiding Cetti's Warbler. It came quite close to us, probably because it was so overcast and actually raining at the time. This was the best views of a Cetti's Warbler any of the classes has had this year - possibly the only real view so far! Cetti's Warbler The more standard view Ce...