What a difference a day makes

Today was much warmer and it brought out lots of interesting things. Firstly a new bird for the Meadows, for me at any rate. As I walked along the remaining section of the central hedge I noticed a small bird darting in and out of the hedge. I was delighted to find that it was a Spotted Flycatcher. It made its way northwards along the hedge and into the school wood. Spotted Flycatchers are RED listed birds which means there is serious conservation concern for the species in the UK. Their population has declined by 89% since 1987. I don't know yet whether there is a nesting pair but I will keep a look out. Also a male Whitethroat was singing, again from the old part of the central hedge. Many immature birds were around that have recently fledged, including Blue Tits, Great Tits and Long-tailed Tits.

Poor shot of the Spotted Flycatcher

By the pond I found another new species, this time a new damselfly, a Large Red Damselfly. There were at least two of these with several Azure Damselflies and a Broad Bodied Chaser dragonfly.
I did not manage any good quality pictures of the damselflies mainly due to a large Labrador dog  that its owners allowed to splash around in the pond for about 10 minutes. The water was completely churned up and all the wildlife disappeared for about an hour.  Its a pity that no word of an apology was forthcoming for all the nuisance caused.

Large Red Damselfly

The plants are now beginning to show, particularly the Yellow Flag Irises around the pond.