I had my first proper look out of the new Tern Hide when I arrived to open up this morning and was greeted by something between 600 and 1000 sand martin swooping over the water, the first serious arrival of hirundines this spring. I saw only one swallow though and no sign of any house martin.
Along the shore in front of the hide there was a pair of little ringed plover and a fine male lapwing.
male lapwing from Tern Hide
There were several ducks feeding close in too.
drake gadwall, not just a dull, grey duck as some would have you believe
shoveler pair
tufted duck pair
I spent a good part of the day trying to complete the annual report, which kept me in the office on a day when outside would have been far preferable. However I did have an excuse to get out for a while and enjoy the sunshine as we had a visit from a small group of top entomologists to look particularly at solitary bees, of which we saw many species including a few new reserve records. Incidentally we also saw several orange-tip, including one female, speckled wood and peacock.
Locking up the weather was still sunny and at the Woodland Hide finches were still feeding, including a good number of brambling.
male brambling
There were also several reed bunting, almost all males.
male reed bunting
Blashford Lakes Nature Reserve 