WATERSHIP DOWN -POUR

Lots of rain on Sunday 13th kept many visitors away from the country park. The local bunnies had the place to themselves and all the recent rain has provided them with plenty of fresh grass growth. Everywhere you look there are rabbits of all ages and sizes with good numbers of young ones to keep the population probably far too healthy.

The car park here is deserted in the middle of the afternoon as the rain pelts it down. Earlier in the day I had stood just left of centre in the picture above, admiring the rich and loud song of the nightingale singing his heart out from the hedgerow. The male was serenading a mate who was quietly calling from a nearby bush. You could almost feel the intensity of the sound waves being broadcast out by the male bird. Like normal nightingales it stayed well hidden and out of sight.

Whilst enjoying listening to one bird so quintessential of the countryside, my ears latched onto the song of another bird typical of English springs - the cuckoo. I looked up to see not one cuckoo flying over the field towards the park calling but two others with it too. A rare sight to see three together and maybe this was one female being pursued by two rival males, each one eager to be the successful suitor.

Whilst talking to Martin Dence a hobby flew over the park and headed west with occasional glides but when it beat its wings the distinctive rakish swift-like flight helped power it into the distance. Martin also reported seeing a wheatear on the beach.

Late in the day the weather improved and the sun shone onto the mudflats as the tide came in. There was a surprisingly large number of dunlin feeding with about 300 having to keep changing their feeding grounds as more mud got covered. Noisy as ever were 70 oystercatchers also forced closer to the shore.

On the park pond the six cygnets stayed very close to mum as she pulled up algae for the youngsters to pick at. Three pairs of tufted duck snoozed to one side whilst a second male ruddy duck has joined the resident pair. Seven young mallard ducklings foraged amongst the shelter of some tall reedmace. The loud fluty song of a blackcap was sung with great gusto from the top of a bush near the pond as if reinvigorated after the persistent rains earlier in the day.