It's black and white at Yarner!

Having Been Good yesterday, it was a fairly early start [I 'let' rush hour pass...] and over to Yarner, hoping for Pied Flies and maybe even Redstart and Wood Warbler [they've started arriving]. Found the car park full! Tut and double tut! Assorted building equipment didn't help but 'tis a poor show on a weekday...

Trendlebeare had a nippy breeze blowing early on, but that didn't stop the Willow Warblers from singing their little hearts out :D No sylvia action there, and no Tripit on the heath [later found out there was, I just missed it...]. Into the woods, where the buds are swelling nicely, and the Pied Flies proved very elusive and mobile [oh, those dreaded words]. I heard one quite quickly, but it scarpered before I could locate it. Did find plenty of birders about, [including Mike Pope and his shiny bins] and learned about the Tripit, that a Redstart was supposed to be back already, and that a couple of Mandarin were on the pond. Now, I ought to explain why that last was of interest; I saw my first Mandarin on that pond on my first visit to Yarner, and I've never seen one there since, not in 25 frickin' years..... Naturally I was quite keen to rectify that. Unsurprisingly they were gone when I got there.

Bugger.

Having admired the shiny new cattle grids, and wondered what the hell they're doing at the hide, I then began a meander of the backways of Yarner. I've burbled about this before, so I won't burden your eyes again. Lesser Peckers were noisy but invisible, Treeecreeepers and Nuthatches were noisy and visible, a couple of young Sika Deer were not as quiet as they should have been, assorted tits were everywhere, as were Wrens. Eventually at the edge of some birch, I caught a break - black and white bird onto trunk; female Lesser! Yes! Then whoosh! One or maybe two Pied Flies right through my FOV! Lesser duly vanishes. One of the Pieds then starts performing well, if a bit mobile with it. He sings, he calls, its great! More are lurking a little further on in a Holly bush. I like Pied flies. :)

I keep on, walking the route I've found Redstart on most often, but get not a sniff. Lots of Willowy Warblers about, and one of them has really done good for itself... If you read Steve Waite's blog, you'll know of his Will that does a very good Chiff. One of the Yarner Wills does a bit of Wood Warbler, but thats not his main claim to fame. It sings R-B Fly. Almost all of it, in fact. R-B Fly is one of the few songs I know really well - for some reason its jaunty tune is stuck in my head. To hear it gave me quite a start I'll tell you! To see a Willow Warbler sing it almost all the way through was amazing! Where'd it hear it?!?

On that curiosity, I shall leave you.

P.S. Still haven't seen any of these Red Kites floating about... :(