Fly-catching Kittiwake

Chris and I carried out the first breeding bird transect at Thorpe Wood this morning - we were quite surprised to hear both chiffchaff and blackcap singing. And even more surprised to come across a courting pair of ring-necked parakeets, one of which was a delicate shade of turquoise blue rather than the more usual green. It looks as though it won't be long before we have a population established in Peterborough.

I was having my breakfast which I got a message from Chris saying that a kittiwake had been spotted at Ferry Meadows. I decided to see if I could find it before I started work. When I arrived at the spot I was greeted warmly by a couple of other birdwatchers standing on the bank of the lake. We all watched it for about half-an-hour, hoping it might fly, but it seemed to be quite content to paddle around in the water catching flies (if you look closely you can see the one it's aiming at here). It may well have been blown in by last week's gales - it certainly doesn't really belong on an inland lake!