Gah! Birds in Wanstead!

There are actually some birds here. Nothing pulse-quickening, but to be enjoyed nonetheless. The highlight has been a Lesser Whitethroat singing in almost exactly the same place that a Common Whitethroat was singing a few weeks ago - you know, the one that could be heard from my front drive and therefore scraped onto the garden list? I hurried home, continuing to hear the strident "de-de-de-de-de-de-de" at the end of the song until about half way down the road. Whether the bird stopped singing or whether the sound simply faded away I cannot say, but it was a big disappointment. I had a listen this morning, but I didn't get up early enough and there was too much traffic. Very sad.

So, some bird news at last. And there's more! Another Red Kite flew over the Flats at the weekend. I got a call from Gary who lives south of me somewhere, to say he had just seen one going over the Flats vaguely towards my house. I rushed out but could not connect with it, I am guessing it passed north and east of me. So close, and yet so far. Still, Red Kite is already, and will be forever on the garden list, so no great drama, but I think I am right in saying that it is the fifth Red Kite sighting from the patch this year, which is remarkable really.

The Mute Swans have cygnets which are rapidly growing. If you want to see them still in their uber-cute phase, now is the time. In only a short while they will be gawky adolescents totally ill-at-ease with their size. If you can't make it, here they are. Altogther now...."awwwwww".

Not much else to report really, I am very much looking forward to the next part of the kids' play, and to the weekend. Yet again I have a poorly child at home, what I have done to deserve the almost constant illnesses is a mystery. I did manage to nip out for an hour yesterday, in between getting a puncture sorted out on the car - my run of luck with tyres continues to astound. I saw almost no birds, and a single butterfly, which I think is a Small Skipper, but I am happy to be corrected. The key ID feature is apparently that the undersides of the antennae are orange, whereas they are black in Essex Skipper. Obviously.