WHITETHROAT WARBLER - SYLVIA COMMUNIS

I had a hard slog today. It hurt.

It was also damned hot, which made it harder.

But I persevered up in incline that goes on for roughly 1.5 miles and to a spot that was actually around 4.1 miles away from home.

That incline is not the only one I have to climb to get there either!

But for the first time this year, of 2016, I managed to get to one of my favourite spots I affectionately call the 'Crop Crossing'. Though it is technically not a crossing. Unless your in a tractor in which case it is a crossing.

It was flooded with yellow from the Rapeseed being grown in the fields there and the sky was brilliant blue with some nice clouds in one direction.

While I was there I saw a bird singing while flying high but then landed on some telegraph cables and looked look a Whitethroat Warbler after initially thinking they were Skylarks.

The singing from the cable should have been a signal that they were not Skylarks!

I realised they were indeed Whitethroats when I saw the videos and pictures on my PC when I got home!

Oh and there was a Buzzard out hunting. There are normally a pair of buzzards that are either in this vicinity or some woods about a mile or two south of this location.

THE GREAT CORMORANT - Phalacrocorax carbo

This one was a weird one.

Nothing much on this lake I normally check while out hunting things down but some ways off I see something that looks a lot like a Heron from where I was standing.

As I looked though it did not look right and looked too small, though it looked bigger than a Little Egret. In body mass at least.

I then zoomed in, after nearly not bothering, and see a beak like a Merganser, or Goosander, and then saw the chest and thought this looked more like a Cormorant.

Only the whole of its breast was pale.

Not being great on water foul but I do see a lot of Cormorants here they are normally black all over. I thought maybe the females have a pale breast like this one or even the youngsters.

When I got home I had a better look at the pictures, video and looked online and realised it was a Great Cormorant, Phalacrocorax carbo.

Do not know if this is a good spot or not, lol, waiting to hear back from one of my brothers who would know better than me. Probably not but at least it is another ticked of the very long list..

A few pictures and a video ...

My God the pictures are dreadful! Funny I nearly bought a new camera a month ago, starting to think I should have bought it now!