the damage

marsh harrier at brading marsh, dunno if it's a migrant or the wintering female which i haven't seen since feb 25th (last winter my last sighting of her was march 17th). black redstart at the laundry, surprisingly the first one i've seen there.

fire engines were tearing through sandown today but i only discovered this evening that there's been a big fire in the reed bed behind the canoe lake, actually works out well for me as it's increased access and opened the area out for migrant passerines, until the reeds grow back.

i usually see at least one fox sleeping out in the middle of a nearby field during the day, this distinctive one eyed dog is looking a bit old now. apparently they used to enter a house bordering this field to be fed.

weather is still too nice for birds but the tan is underway. nothing on brading marsh but the now depleted brent flock in bembridge harbour is still holding onto the pale-bellied. 4 grass snakes at one site was good, had only seen 3 previously on the iow, they're much more timid than adders tho, no venom=no balls i guess. now i've got my eye in maybe snakes aren't as rare as i thought on the isle. visited the adder site again in the morning and finally saw a striking male and among the females was a gorgeous little ginger.

11 of these on site this morning. 3 crossbills and 2 redpolls over.