A few migrants

Had the day off work on Friday and took the opportunity to give Campbell Park a thorough going over.  Wish I hadn't really.  Just another reminder, if I needed it, at the sheer amount of cover here.  Plus point - it should attract some good stuff; downside - finding said stuff could be hard work.

Anyway, there was evidence of a few new arrivals; a male Reed Bunting was singing by the pond, and 8 Chiffchaffs and 3 Blackcaps were also in song.  22 Redwing were at Overgate, where a pair of Kestrels were hunting.  Will be interesting to see if they nest within the park.

Along the central ridge I found a small conifer plantation and was rather pleased to immediately find a pair of Goldcrest - a well overdue PYT.  They were busy engaged in singing and collecting nest material (moss from a tree stump).

Moving onto Oakgrove, I tramped round for 45mins seeing nowt much, when a familiar trilling call drew my attention to 7 Lesser Redpolls flying over north-east.  Now we're talking - I wasn't sure I'd get Redpoll this year, hence smug text to Si.  I also finally saw a Treecreeper, a singing bird, and 1 Blackcap and 4 Chiffchaff were also new in.

Finishing off at CMK, there was a smart male Wheatear, after a gap of a week or so since those first 3.  Typical spring Wheats.  As we move into April, they should be a daily presence.

What I did notice was that at Campbell and Oakgrove, a lot of the common birds seemed to be plentiful.  Great Tits actually seem to be growing on trees, Dunnocks and Blackbirds are everywhere, and each site held at least 3 singing Song Thrushes.  The cricket pitch area at Campbell is best for finches, and there's currently at least 3-4 each of singing Greenfinches and Goldfinches there.

Finally on Saturday, a bright female Wheatear which I saw in the morning had presumably moved on by the time Si arrived on site late afternoon.  Never mind young Nichols, it'll feel all the sweeter when you find one on your wasteground (if indeed that ever happens.......:-)).