Still waiting

This week has seen some sunshine...

... and the first short-range summer migrants arrive. The Blackcaps are in: 

 As are good numbers of singing Chiffchaffs:

 Peacocks could be found everywhere, basking in the sun:

But this morning, in the cool gloom, I had hoped that the first long distance trans-Saharan migrants may have arrived. A Swallow, a Whitethroat, a Willow Warbler? No such luck. The last of the Fieldfares have gone, but spring is not quite here. I was reduced to taking pictures of a Mute Swan on the river:

When a Kingfisher flashed past. April has been the best month for this species for a few years now, as birds move back onto their breeding territories. It was far too fast and dark to get a good picture, but this is how you see them, a line of bright flashing blue shooting past low over the water:

And that, apart from a Snipe by the river and this stag Roe Deer in the rape crop, was it:

69 species for the year. 104 bird species (+2 escaped species) for the area since 2008.