Leaving home at 3.15am this morning the journey along the M25 and up the M1 was going smoothly until we found that junction 11-12 at Dunstable was completely closed! Following the diversions added another 40 minutes to the journey, eventually arriving in Tamworth around 6am. Having parked up in Polesworth Road we joined three other birders already present and were told the Corncrake had been heard calling frequently. We didn't have to wait very long before it called again. During the next two hours the bird would utter it's crex-crex call every 4-5 minutes, it followed this routine closely enough to know when it was going to start calling again!
However trying to locate the actual area the bird was calling from proved much more difficult.
However trying to locate the actual area the bird was calling from proved much more difficult.
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| The viewing gate at junction of Polesworth Road & Linden Lane |
On route to Rutland Water we made a short detour to Kelham Bridge hoping to add Willow Tit to the year list. Unfortunaely the feeders were devoid of seed and with so much natural food available at this time of year they didn't show or call during this visit.
With limited time remaining we made the thirty five mile journey East to Manton Bay. Pulling into the layby off the A6003 we managed to get some very nice scope views of the Osprey. The female sitting on the nest along with two visible chicks and the male perched close by. The male soon took to the air and returned a short time later with a newly caught fish and dropped it into the nest.
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| The Manton Bay Ospreys |
I grabbed a hand held phone record shot through the scope before we started the two hour return trip home.
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