Chiltern Birder

This morning had some very interesting moments. I went down to Rickmansworth to take a walk around Stockers Lake. Making my way up from the car park I saw that the black swan was still in residence, this time on Bury Lake with a group of mute swans. The songsters were in fine voice and  I was lucky to see a garden warbler singing. On the water were the usual selection but I only saw chicks with the coots. The common terns are returning and in a wooded area a wren managed to beat the warblers on volume. When the flags come into flower the display around the lake edge will be magnificent. Driving home I stopped at Codmore Wood to take a look at the bluebells which are now fully out. Walking in the wood I saw a group of three roe does. They were wary but I stood still and they did not run, giving me the best view of the species that I have ever had. The large mobile ears were very striking giving, for a moment, the imression of a very elegant donkey. They kept a wary eye on me, th...

Escaped ornamentals can be a problem to identify but that wasn't the case with the black swan that I saw on Stockers Lake today. I almost missed it as it seems to spend far more time with its head down than a mute swan. Apart from that a walk around the lakes at Rickmansworth produced nothing exciting in terms of unusual species. There were plenty of tufties, pochard, coot, mallard, mute swans, cormorants and gadwall as well as a solitary shoveller. I passed a heron very close to the path who seemed quite unconcerned about my presence and was also lucky enough to see a great crested grebe swallowing a fish. Undergrowth had been cleared from some of the islands and one seemed to be full of lapwings. There are bird feeders by a couple of hides which were getting attention from blue and great tits and one also had a party of rats feeding on the discarded seeds underneath. Judging by the sizes I would guess a family party of two adults and two juveniles. On the wooded part of the...