Broken

I am a broken man. The Spring floods have produced nearly nothing, despite a number of early starts that all ended with freezing river water filling my boots and an uphill walk home. For my troubles over the last week I have been rewarded with a couple of hundred Swallows, the years first Sedge, Reed and Garden Warblers, plus Swift and House Martin, a pair of Gadwall, a plastic Snow Goose and a bastard hybrid Canada x Greylag Goose (or should that be Canalag or even Greyada?).  The much hoped for tringa wader remains a fantasy. My only consolation is that rain is forecast all week, so I may get another go at the floods next weekend. Lets hope my boots have dried out by then. And my morale.

The Thame Valley. No comment.

Last year I had recorded 86 species before the end of April (and 92 in total by the year end). This year, in early May, a mere 78 are on the books, truly a poor Spring here inland.  In the absence of birds, here is a mammal: