GARDEN BIRDS
Wow! What a day. Hot on the heels of garden tick no. 99, Red kite last week, last night I found a fem/imm Pied Flycatcher in the front garden - garden tick no. 100! It performed well until a thunderstorm moved in.

I awoke to heavy rain and in a brief respite mid-morning I couldn't see the Pied Fly, but the buzzy call I first heard last night (which went un'IDed) was pinned down to an escaped Zebra Finch.

Late morning the rain stopped, the sun came out and insects were suddenly on the wing. The garden was hoochin' with birds, including a couple of new baby Treeps. I soon located the Pied Fly in next door's garden feeding from one of the large weeping willows. It was on the house side, so I was able to watch it for about 15 mins from one of my bedroom windows. Whilst hanging out of the window, garden tick no. 101 flew over - a noisy Grey Wagtail. And within half an hour, a Reed Warbler bounced through the garden - garden tick no. 102!! Unbelievable, three garden ticks within the last 24 hours! The Reed Warbler appears to have taken up residence for hte afternoon and judging by the amount of juicy items its finding, it ain't going hungry!

To add to the garden tally, a Willow Warbler performed well early afternoon and a Common Sandpiper (from the nearby irrigation res) was heard a couple of times - presumably flying around the fen when disturbed from the res.