30 April 2022 - Hollingworth Lake

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6 Oystercatchers, Grasshopper Warbler, Linnets, Stonechat, Blackcap

Another nice sunny day, perfectly calm. Six Oystercatchers flew over, calling, and at one point several came quite close. They landed on the spit by the cafe, but then there only seemed to be five. Along Rakewood Road just past the Wine Press, a couple of Linnets fed among the grass and stones on the lake bank, along with some Goldfinch. A Blackcap sang from the trees near the stream by the gate, but there was nothing much of interest from the hide, so I headed up to Syke Farm.

On the way up a couple of Swallows were flitting about, one carrying a feather. Not long after I arrived at the bramble patch, I heard a snatch of Grasshopper Warbler reeling, then it showed briefly and then flew to some rushes nearby. Meanwhile, a cracking male Stonechat perched up on one of the small Ash trees, and a Stock Dove flew past. After 20 minutes or so, I picked out the Grasshopper Warbler at the back of the bushes, and could see it singing, but struggled to hear it properly. It sat up for quite a while singing, and I managed some photos, but the autofocus struggled to keep on it, and I ended up using manual focus. On the way back, another pair of Linnets were on the fence by the track.

Oystercatchers, 1/500 sec, f/7.1, 500 mm, ISO 100 (view full size image)