I arrived back in the UK on Sunday May 14th and spent time getting a year list going. This included some time exploring the woods and going to Southend. In the 18 days until the end of May I had seen 49 species in the UK, with the only sighting of note being a Hobby chasing Common Swifts from the Tesco car park.
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| Dunnock |
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| Pied Wagtail |
Dave came down for the day on June 1st but the weather was no very cooperative and we settled for a short spell at Rainham Marshes, adding 16 species with just one notable - a cooperative Common Grasshopper Warbler singing along the fence line along the river.
On June 3rd my brother and I went to Hanningfield Reservoir for the now expected, Red-crested Pochard and Stock Doves. I added a few other bits and pieces, finally getting Rook and Linnet for the trip. We headed back via the Thurrock Thameside Nature Park where a Lesser Yellowthroat sang from a wire for us.
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| Great Crested Grebe |
In my last few days in England I added a Mediterranean Gull at Southend and then (finally) both House Martins and sand Martins (Bank Swallows) at the Olympic Park. I headed back to the US on 74 species. My worst miss being Eurasian Kestrel, a bird my brother saw while driving but I missed from the passenger seat.
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| Black-headed Gull |
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| Mediterranean Gull |
