Weekend in the west

 Male Cirl Bunting

 Male Cirl Bunting

 Female Cirl Bunting (showing olive rump that amongst other features separates it from female Yellowhammer) 

 Raven

 Peregrine

 Treecreeper

 Early Mining Bee ?

 Eristalis sp- my first hoverfly of the year. Feeding on Alexanders- one of the first umbellifers to emerge providing a source of early nectar.

 The River Otter- we dipped Beaver and Otter (at least one Beaver and three Otters were seen in the last couple of days).

 View towards Sidmouth

 Jaff, Sue and Helen

 Birders Against Wildlife Crime (BAWC) Conference 

Spent the weekend in the West Country. Popped into the BAWC conference on Saturday morning and then after early afternoon headed to Jaffa's to twitch the Beavers on the River Otter. We spent that afternoon and early this morning looking but dipped. We also missed three Otters by the standard 10 minutes. The weather was good, insects were out and after giving up on the Beavers were had a quick look at some Cirl Buntings before heading for a Devon Cream Tea- cream on first, then jam.

The BAWC conference was interesting. Some good talks by really hard working people getting excellent results.