Upton Warren 1st July

As we hadn't been since April we decided to have a couple of hours at Upton on Sunday. We knew there wouldn't be that much about, but the prospect of some Juvenile Avocets was enough to take us down there.

We decided to go to the new Avocet hide and were duly rewarded with the young Avocets:

We then spotted 2 Mediterranean Gulls, this was a first for us in summer colours, we had seen one back in November in 1st Winter, so this was nice and a first for 2012. The photo's aren't great, the advertised sunshine didn't appear until we were on our way home:

Apart from that there were of course plenty of Black Headed Gulls with youngsters all making a racket as usual and a solitary Little Ringed Plover who had according to the Warden lost its chicks when the flashes flooded. The water levels are still very high making it tough for the waders.

We then went over to the pools and visited the hides on both sides, all very quiet. Probably best was the Great Crested Grebe chick with its Zebra style markings.
As we walked between hides we were treated to a few very obliging Reed Buntings staying put and singing their heads off:

So a modest list for a few hours:

Avocet (with youngsters)
Blackbird
Black-headed Gull (with youngsters)
Buzzard (1)
Canada Goose (with youngsters)
Carrion Crow
Chiffchaff (Heard)
Collared Dove (1)
Common Tern (2)
Coot
Cormorant (4)
Goldfinch
Great Crested Grebe (with youngsters)
Great Tit
Greenfinch
Herring Gull
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Little Ringed Plover (1)
Magpie
Mallard
Mediterranean Gull (2)
Moorhen
Mute Swan (with cygnets)
Oystercatcher (5) (1 with chick)
Reed Bunting (6)
Sand Martin
Sedge Warbler
Swift
Tufted Duck
Woodpigeon