A full day's birding - Martin J Palmer

Around 60 species today in a tour of the claypits.....

Very little at Chimney Corner North ClP c10.30am - 6 Grey lags and a Cormorant were the best plus a very distant Common Buzzard over Marsh Leys

Onto Quest ClP next where there were 6 Red Crested Pochards - 2 pairs and two extra drakes - 2 pairs Redshanks and at least 10 Dabchicks

Rookery South late morning still had 6 Black-tailed Godwits, 3 Ruff and 13 Redshanks - [Wednesday evening I had seen 10 Black-wits, 3 Ruff, 15 Redshanks, 1 Snipe, 1 Little Ringed Plover and 1 Dunlin]

Also in Rookery South were the pair of Pintail - I had seen them displaying to each other yesterday evening - but Shoveler numbers had dropped.

From noon until c1.15 I visited Stewartby Lake and again from c5.35 until 6.20pm - star birds were 2 CETTI'S WARBLERS singing, one 200m north-east of the gull watchpoint and the other near the west (Marston) corner. Only a couple of second-winter Yellow-legged Gulls were of note in a small gull roost this evening. A Sand Martin this evening was my first of the year and my 132nd species in Beds so far in 2011.

Butterflies were out and about with a Brimstone in Stewartby village, another at Stewartby Lake plus a Peacock and a couple of Commas.

Di and I had gone for an afternoon stroll along the Ouse to and from Kempston Mill - 3 Green Woodpeckers were calling and a Sparrowhawk sped through but again there were no Mandarin at the Mill bridge itself. 2 Peacocks, a Comma and a Small Tortoiseshell were seen. A Brimstone was seen outside our garden earlier.What a lovely warm day.

Martin J Palmer