More grebe love...

I think these two will have to be paid royalties soon - they seem to be developing a starring role in my journal!

More signs of spring at Ferry Meadows - courting grebes, aggro amongst the mallards and plenty of songbirds setting up their territories. The winter migrants seem to have largely gone, leaving a bit of a hiatus before the arrival of the summer visitors.

An excellent day for birds in the garden! The blackcap seems to have moved on which has allowed the blue tits and other smaller birds, including two long-tailed tits, to return en masse. A jay is visiting regularly, tempted by scattered peanuts. Our willow tree was visited by green woodpecker and great spotted-woodpecker, who both spent quite a while busily feeding, and a stock dove visited briefly, the first we've seen for a couple of years.