The weather has been lovely for my few days staying with my sister in Cambridgeshire so we made the most of it by taking a few trips to increase our bird and butterfly sightings for the year.
We started by visiting Berry Fen, a nearby reserve which has a blue winged teal reported there. Sadly we didn't find it but we did have good views of a pair of gargeneys which were my sister was pleased to see and I heard and saw my first sedge warbler..
The next morning we were off the Summerleys nature reserve near Wellingborough. I had been reading on the website of a large colony of tree sparrows that were there and I hoped to tick these off my list. We took a nice stroll round the lake and woodland and spent some time in the various hides; providing some more year ticks for my sister. We passed through the area where tree sparrows were meant to be seen but didn't see a single one! On our return to the car, I popped into the visitor centre and enquired about the sparrows. The assistant looked puzzled and said she hadn't heard of any being reported there!! I took a paper copy of the reserve leaflet and then released that the short paragraph about tree sparrows had been deleted! I think someone needs to update the website info!!
I knew there was a better chance of seeing tree sparrows at Welney WWT so we planned to visit there the next day. My other target species was a whooper swan which are currently still there. Thankfully we managed to find both of these birds, also a group of 4 glossy ibis, and my first reed warbler and house martin. Another highlight was watching a marsh harrier taking a drink and a bath at the edge of one of the lakes. Karen was able to add 10 more birds to her list too, and we finished our morning with pasties from the restaurant.
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