Leeming

Saturday April 27th a.m.
 When we arrived at Leeming there was some sunshine with the temperature up a bit to
3.5°C. Walking along the road at the side of the dam the first birds we spotted was a
pair of Rooks in the field also here after scanning with the bins were 18 Mipits. On the
water we saw Mallards and a Coot which was a first for us at this location, the two
Redshanks were back but no sign of the Goldeneyes,Swallows were feeding low over the
water.We saw a couple of flighty Willow Warblers, at the top end of the reservoir we saw
a Pheasant, a Song Thrush was singing & we spotted a Reed Bunting in a tree,another first
for us at this site.We started to head along the path towards the road when a Kestrel flew
overhead & landed in a nearby tree,out came the camera,at which point it moved and hovered
in hunting pose. This was great to see, the closest we've been to a Kestrel with cameras in hand,
just one drawback the sun was behind it making a good picture difficult,still we got a few.As we
moved off a dark cloud appeared shortly followed by a shower as we made a hasty retreat,on
the way to the car seeing Chaffinch,Greenfinch,Dunnock & House Sparrow.

Kestrel

Redshank

Two Redshanks at Leeming