This female is only the second Wheatear I've ever seen there, no doubt forced to stop over by Sunday's heavy rain. Whilst watching her, however, I noticed a second bird flit into the bushes. Expecting it to be another Wheatear, I was very surprised when it turned out to be a stonking male Whinchat, a very rare passage migrant in Brussels and a new species for my patch list. He was a bit too far for my camera but I ran down and told a photographer, who ended up with some great pictures.
After that, things couldn't really get any better but I also saw the first Swifts of the year and had a wonderful flashback to my childhood when I headed into the forest and stumbled upon a beautiful carpet of bluebells stretching off into the undergrowth.
