Bird transect

Yes, it's that time of year again. The first of six visits to Thorpe Wood specifically to record the breeding birds. This morning I had a relatively civilised start, at 7 a.m., and was finished by 8.15 a.m. I recorded most of the usual residents, including this rather lovely female Great Spotted Woodpecker, but rather strangely I didn't see or hear a single Blackbird. 

I then returned home to bake a Lemon Drizzle cake, before heading off after lunch to lead a guided walk round Woodston Ponds NR. This is a very urban site with relatively limited wildlife interest, and I'd been wondering what I was going to talk about for two hours! But after a rather delayed start, caused because two different meeting points had been advertised, everything went swimmingly, helped by a lovely group and some proper springlike weather. The cake also helped to keep everyone's spirits up!