I decided to try and upgrade some breeding records for SP63 tetrad this morning and succeeded with the first target, finding a Common Chiffchaff with food for young, but I was surprised and pleased to come across two or three pairs of YELLOW WAGTAILS, clearly breeding in a bean field (female with food). Interesting how birds seem to congregate--at the same spot there was a male Reed Bunting singing in the beans, a female Yellowhammer with food and several pairs of Linnets.
Found a new Little Owl location and a male Beautiful Demoiselle near Biddlesden Park. Also discovered one of the perils of roaming--following a poorly marked footpath I ended up on the wrong side of a fence and was attacked by four dogs! Not too good on canine ID but the largest one on his hind legs was taller than me!! Discovered I can still be pretty agile as I vaulted a fence to escape.
Returned home for lunch and sitting on my patio I heard an insistent 'wheet wheet' call. I put it down as possibly an odd Chaffinch, but went to investigate anyway since it wasn't quite right. I'm glad I did because it turned out to be a female COMMON REDSTART. It moved off fairly quickly, so I assume perhaps a failed breeding bird on the move? (I did have a juvenile here for a few days in 2001, which I suspected might have been raised locally, but I don't think today's occurrence is significant).Phil Tizzard