Mid-May Memories

On the 18th, I had far more luck at Longtown (eventually) where I found another (reported) Little Gull. I was pleased to find the bird loafing about with Black-headeds, having spent a while walking the length of the stretch of river between the northern layby and the bridge. There were Sand Martins here too, in their hundreds, nesting in their usual spot just south of the layby, and I spent a while trying to capture these erratic acrobats as they skimmed over the river and whizzed overhead. There was also a Kingfisher that flashed by and perched briefly in a bush overhanging the water, Goosander and Common Sandpiper. Further east, at Miltonrigg Wood, I found a nice Great Spotted Woodpecker, a couple of Pied Flycatchers, including a pair nesting on an old woodpecker hole, and – eventually – Wood Warbler as I was returning to the car park. It took me a while to locate the latter (it wasn’t singing when I walked past the same spot earlier), and the Pied Flycatchers wouldn’t play ball either, at least to start with, preferring to hide in the canopy against bad light. Pleasingly, though, I did manage to obtain some very nice images of both species before leaving, and it was really nice just getting to know these summer migrants once again.