Late May round-up

Last week, I had another morning at my Brussels patch, seeing a total of 40 species.  The site has only ever had two records of Marsh Warbler, both of which were mine, so I was beginning to wonder if I might have been mistaken.  There were plenty of Reed Warblers singing but I then heard one bird which sounded distinctly different and was sticking to the bushes at the edge of the reedbed.  I got some brief glimpses of it but, crucially, I also got a short recording of its song, enabling me to confirm its identity as the third Marsh Warbler for the reserve, as well as reassuring myself about the accuracy of my previous records.  A male Bullfinch was a new addition to my site list, which now stands at 99 species!
I then spent a morning guiding a visiting birder around Mechels Broek nature reserve near Mechelen.  We managed a very respectable tally of 61 species with nothing really unusual, but fabulous scope views of Reed, Marsh and Sedge Warblers singing, allowing my visitor to get to grips with this difficult, skulky trio.
The weekend (both days!) was spent on Kalmthout Heath, where this Woodlark showed well as it took a  dustbath.  Tree Pipits were singing all over the place and I also caught up with some of the other summer migrants such as Common Redstart, Hobby and Mediterranean Gull.  As was the case at Mechels Broek, some constant begging calls led us to the location of a Great Spotted Woodpecker nest but, this time, we could see the entrance hole so I set up the telescope and waited for an adult to come in, with the hungry, red-headed juvenile appearing briefly to grab its meal.