New bird for the patch list - Sedge Warbler.

Migrants are still thin on the ground locally with only small numbers being recorded on my regular walks or from the garden. Whitethroats are back in but I've yet to see a Sand Martin & I've only seen 1 Swift & 1 Lesser Whitethroat. A new (unringed) male Brambling visited the garden briefly at the weekend but since then it appears all the winter visitors have now gone apart from a couple of Lesser Redpolls visiting the feeders.

A Wheatear dropped into the field opposite the house on Sunday evening but the star bird of the weekend was the first ever patch Sedge Warbler singing Sunday morning from a field of oilseed rape.

The resident Coots have hatched 7 young and the male has been aggressively chasing off any other bird that dares venture near the pond.

I've ringed very few Blue or Great Tits over the last couple of months and a check of the garden nest boxes Sunday revealed that only 4 appear to be occupied. Two Blue Tits are on eggs whilst a 3rd nest is abandoned. A single pair of Great Tits are also on eggs. Blackbirds built a nest in a bramble bush but abandoned it when 'the beat from the east' hit. They're now building a new nest 1m from our dining room window so hopefully this one will be more successful,