No 68: Willow Warbler

May Day! Got up early and went up onto the moors. Although it's not an area known for ring ouzels, I thought it was a long shot that I might see one, but no joy. It was really cold first thing in a sharp breeze, and as I got out of the car, I heard this bird singing in the tree very close by. It took me a while to spot him, and as I suspected it was indeed a willow warbler, I used my Chirp app to check out the song - it matched, and my go-to guy for bird ID concurred - so it gets a number:-). The next thing I heard, most appropriately was my first cuckoo, but again, didn't manage a sighting. As a still-inexperienced birder, I'm struggling with the spring LBJs. I nearly trod on a little reed-wardler-ish bird on my walk, but without the experienced eye or ear of a photo, I just couldn't ID it. Still, a lovely morning was had. Saw meadow pipits, a linnet, pied wagtails, lapwings, mistle thrush, grouse, and curlew. Probably missed twice as many birds - but hey, they're there for another day. When you're a novice, you can get more "lifers". Here are a few more photos.
The Curlew was the bridesmaid bird today that again narrowly missed being blipped

In case any new viewers are puzzled by the numbers, I set myself the target for my first 50 blips of 50 different birds. It was tough, but I did it, so I'm now counting up to 100 at a more leisurely pace. I'm also counting butterflies and probably dragon and damselflies when they decide to put in an appearance hereabouts.