Another early morning hike up the hill.
Plenty of very vocal Fieldfares on the highest ground, around 40 in all. Only 1 Wheatear seen on the climb up the initial hill, but 4 seen there on the return journey. This happens everytime, and I'm at a loss to explain why I always see more on the way down!
I walked slowly alongside hedges at the top of the hills. A male Redstart was my first find. Really smart birds, although never giving a very prolonged view.
The hedges near the mast had 2 Ring Ouzels, a male and a female, seen really well but very briefly.
Got the impression that there are more than 2 Ouzels up there, as I had a number of brief views, plus a female feeding in the open. They are so elusive, it would be difficult to get an exact figure, so 2 remains the total ( I suspect at least 3 up there!).
Also the Wheatears seem to be everywhere. I counted 10, another birder got 11 on different hillsides at around the same time, so 20 birds would seem like a reasonable estimate at the moment.
What an excellent place to birdwatch.. To think I was extremely pleased to find a single Wheatear here a couple of weeks ago!
Returning to Milton Keynes, had a very brief look round Snelshall West. 1 singing Blackcap the highlight. Also at least one of the Skylarks displaced from the field now being built on, was singing from an adjacent field which hopefully will be left undeveloped. | 
