Up early for a walk round Baddesley Common. Quite a lot of bird activity, and not a soul around at 6am for a change!
First highlight was a juvenile Wheatear at Checkpoint Charlie. Very distant, and not giving much away until a brief flash of its tail as he disappeared behind bushes. Didn't see it on the return walk.
At the other side of the Common near the entrance to Emer Bog was a very dull looking Whinchat together with a couple of Stonechats for comparison. Again, the Whinchat didn't give much away and disappeared from view.
Small family gourps of Whitethroats, a flock of 35 Goldfinches, and the usual Yellowhammers and Linnets were also on the Common. Had a brief look into Emer Bog and stumbled on a fairly large compact tit flock. Took a good 30 minutes to sift through the birds, and got the following rough totals:
Long Tailed Tit (25), Blue Tit (20), Great Tit (5), Nuthatch (2), Treecreeper (1), Coal Tit (2), Goldcrest (2), Willow Warbler (2), Chiff Chaff (1), Willow-Chiff(10), Blackcap (4),
Was fortunate to eventually position myself in the perfect spot with the sun behind me, and the flock moving past in front of me.
| 
