Little Cressingham and the Watton Brook Valley (Nettlecreeper back)

A beautiful day today with full sunshine, a high of 23 degrees, and a moderate easterly wind.
A walk this morning taking in habitat where I hoped I would find Whitethroat and Lesser Whitethroat.

1 Red Kite
1 Sparrowhawk
1 Goshawk (heard only)
2 Kingfisher
2 Mistle Thrush (both singing males)
Blackbird
3 Blackcap
2 Whitethroat (pair)
1 Chiffchaff
2 Goldcrest
Blue Tit
Great Tit (pair)
Dunnock (2 pairs)
Yellowhammer
Greenfinch

It is now 50 years since the catastrophic population crash of Whitethroats.  In 1968, Whitethroats were very abundant birds, they departed for their wintering grounds in Africa, however, the following spring in 1969 found that hardly any had returned, in fact there was an 85% of crash in numbers of Whitethroats. The reason for this decline was a drought in the Sahel, a 200 mile wide region along the southern boundary of the Sahar Desert.  Since this time, Whitethroats have been rebuilding their numbers, however, even 50 years on, they have not reached the numbers seen prior to the population crash.

Whitethroat (male), one of a pair at Little Cressingham 19th April.

Now, Whitethroats hold a special place in my heart and when I see my first birds of the year I have a smile and tell them "welcome back".
This morning I found a pair of Whitethroats at a traditional breeding locality for this species, a lovely Briar patch.  Both birds were watched for an hour or so moving about together, prospecting for suitable nest-sites.
A wonderful hour spent in the company of these beautiful Warblers.