Empty nestboxes, WeBS Walk, summer migrants and a new bird!

This weekend's visit to Linacre was pretty busy with the first check of the nest boxes and the monthly WeBS Walk. Added to this, I also recorded another summer migrant and my first sighting of a species which has been recorded before, but never by me.

First up was the WeBS Walk. Things were pretty quiet out on the water with the following birds recorded: Mallard (21), Tufted Duck (13), Coot (10), Moorhen (7), Cormorant (3), Great-crested Grebe (3), Black-headed Gull (4), Mandarin Duck (2 males), Grey Wagtail (3), and Greylag Goose (2 flew east down the valley).

As well as the waterbirds there were 4 singing Chiffchaffs and the new summer migrant, a Swallow, that flew over the lower car park. The new bird for me was a Woodcock, that flew up from the woodland floor when I was checking the nestboxes. As I said, this species has been reported at Linacre before, but not by me, so it was very nice to record it. Hopefully it will be the first of many sightings. Another new bird for the year at Linacre was a Skylark that was singing in the fields by the top reservoir. Finally, the Little Owls were still in their favourite tree by the entrance.

The nest boxes were checked, but unfortunately, they were all completely empty. This is in contrast to this time last year, when several boxes already had nests and egss in them. See here for details. Next week perhaps?

Year List update:
109- Woodcock