Brandon, London and Otmoor

Myself and the Capt decided to go up to Brandon for the evening on Friday night to see if the rain had downed anything that had been passing overhead.  I took my wellies on the assumption that the place would be flooded and we would not be able to negotiate our way to the hides without wading through stretches of water and mud.  Surpringly enough, it was mud and water free - but also pretty much bird free other than the usual species of duck and warbler.  However, we had an enjoyable evening catching up with each other's birding exploits over the past few weeks.

The following day, Saturday, I and my birder's wife made our way down to the "big smoke" to meet up with her lovely Godmother.  After taking a detour via Reading and arriving in London later than expected I managed to persuade my birder's wife to take a walk through Hyde Park so that I could clock up another wanted species for the year (as long as my estimates of the distance were accurate as her shoes weren't suitable for anything longer).  Walking through the park is always a pleasure, although slightly marred this time by the persistant drone of helicopters, presumably monitoring a march happening not far away.  We soon heard the familiar squawking of our target bird and then spotted the Ring Necked Parakeet as it flew into a nearby tree and disappeared into the foliage.  Not long after, we saw another do the same, and then a small flock flew overhead.  It is always rather surreal seeing these exotic birds in a London park.  The rest of the day was spent wining and dining followed by a visit to the Cabinet War Rooms (now entitled "Churchill War Rooms") which I can recommend as an interesting and moving exhibition.

And so to today, Sunday.  Despite the showers, myself and the Capt decided to venture down to Otmoor to see if I could score Grasshopper Warbler and Green Sandpiper (which continues to elude me).  However, despite our efforts in trying to locate an obliging reeling Gropper, we just could not find him by sight.  There were also no sign of any Green Sandpipers.  Our visit was not totally wasted as we did have great views of Red Kite, Turtle Dove and Hobby.