Christine's walking & birds blog

We got a bit closer to Slavonian grebes today by going to a loch we'd been given a tip about a year or so ago.

Beyond the loch, tracks lead enticingly into the forest; we hadn't gone prepared for a long walk so just went a little way, but we intend to come back some time and explore further. Willow warblers, a blackcap, and at least two chiffchaffs were singing - and this time, I managed to see one of the chiffchaffs. A green hairstreak butterfly landed handily on a nearby gorse flower.

There were lots of boggy patches which I'm sure will soon be alive with dragonflies, although today we could manage only a common blue damselfly.Yellowhammers and sedge warblers were singing, and a striking male reed bunting was spotted briefly near the top of a tree. As we left, a cuckoo was heard.