Really enjoyed the warm, sunny spring weather today!
The Friends of Epping Forest (www.friendsofeppingforest.org.uk) had a walk on Wanstead Flats to look at birds. It only took me half an hour to walk to the meeting point.
We saw a kestrel spending quite some time on the ground and then discovered it was gathering nesting materials to repair a nest. This was the highlight of the walk for me.
The site where the muster point for the police during the Olympics had been is looking pretty bad - standing water instead of turf. But the silver lining was all the gulls. Usually Tim, our guide, usually finds his groups not interested in gulls, but we were. There were many common gulls (though they aren't that common), quite a few black headed gulls (including 2 which already had their summer black heads), a couple of herring gulls and one lesser black backed gull.
We also saw a sky lark, flying high and singing. I have put my name down to help with the sky lark survey. The areas of rough grass and mown grass, including the football pitches, makes this a good area for sky lark nests, despite the disturbance by dogs running though the rough grass where the nests are hidden.
Wanstead Flats is the southern end of Epping Forest and a magnet for migratory birds, with April and August/September being good times to look. I am putting a note in my diary.
I am also joining the wren group, the local wildlife and conservation group. http://www.wrengroup.org.uk/
And then time in the garden this afternoon with signs of spring all around me. A good day!
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