Counting on records

I can't believe how early the oilseed rape is flowering this year. I need sunglasses on just to leave the village it's so yellow out there at the moment. This week has already seen the first House Martins pass through and the second Kingfisher record, virtually a year to the day after the first last April.

The Farmhouse pond held the first singing Sedge Warbler, while other new arrivals for the year included Lesser Whitethroat and Yellow Wagtail (and no, that wasn't just the reflection of the oilseed on a passing Pied). This monster was out on the fences behind Parkside:

I do a bit of maths and realise that today's new migrant species take the Cuddesdon 2011 year list total to 83 species. Only 8 behind last years record total of 91 and it's only mid-April. Having said that, there's bugger all out here after May, so let's not count our Wryneck's before they hatch. If only....