3rd June

A pretty diverse and surprising cast of birds in a split day today. The notable westerly, certainly at elevation, was mixing things up a bit and loads of House Martins and Swifts looked to be moving through, pretty late in the season. I'm not sure which was more surprising out of the reappearance of the extremely elusive (and now seemingly resident) female Red-crested Pochard on Mill Pond this morning, or the 3rd-summer Lesser Black-backed Gull that became the first June record when it flew west over Junction Field. Highlights as follows:

07:45-08:30; 14:30-16:20

Mill Pond: Red-crested Pochard (♀, E side c.07:50), 1 Gadwall ♂, 3 Tufted Ducks (♂♂♀), 11 Mandarins (9 ♂), 1 Grey Heron and 2 Mute Swans.

Thorncombe Street: 1 Little Owl, 1 Grey Wagtail, 7 Swallows and 2 Red-legged Partridges

Bonhurst Farm: 1 Whitethroat, 20+ House Martins, 4 Linnets, 1 Chiffchaff and 1 Blackcap.

Junction Field (15:05-15:50): 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull (3rd-summer W c.15:15), 1 Garden Warbler, 1 Whitethroat, 40+ Swifts, 20+ House Martins, 10+ Swallows, 7 Linnets, 10+ Buzzards, 2 Blackcaps and 1 Chiffchaff.