A weekend to myself meant I got to go on two birding trips. As I needed to be back for lunchtime to catch Chelsea winning the title, I stayed closer to home & ventured to Otmoor.
The weather was OK when I left, but around High Wycombe the heavens opened and didn't improve for the rest of the journey. My first couple of hours' birding was in steady sometimes heavy rain, but there was lots about, so it didn't matter too much.
Whilst I was putting my boots on, I heard a cuckoo. A wander down the Roman Road didn't deliver the hoped for grasshopper warbler, but two nice close male bullfinches were nice compensation. Lots of singing birds in the hedgerows.
Arriving at Greenaways, I did a quick scan in the hope that the cranes that recently arrived in the area might be showing, No such joy. However, there were two marsh harriers over the back and a hobby dashed through.
The rain was heavy now, so I dived into the hide, where things were very quiet. Venturing out again I had an abortive search of Big Otmoor for the garganey that had been reported the previous day. Swallows & swifts were overhead and more cuckoos were calling.
On the walk down to the first screen, I soon came across a loudly singing lesser whitethroat. Not much else to report on the walk down to the second screen - two cettis warbler and a pair of red legged partridges. Lots of very showy sedge warblers too.
At the first screen on the return was an incredibly tame muntjac. It fed just twenty feet away from me (bad mobile phone shot below)
I stopped to listen again and try and see better the lesser whitethroat. However, almost immediately I was onto the star bird of the day - a whirring grasshopper warbler. Result!
On the walk back to the car, no less than five hobbies were hawking over the reedbeds.
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