I haven't posted for a day or so because of a trip up to Yorkshire to see my granddaughter. I couldn't wait to get out to the moor yesterday, I wanted to see if the cuckoo was still in the territory and also investigate the Willow Warblers nest.  I arrived at the Cuckoo site earlier than normal and waited for over an hour…… no Cuckoo.  What a disappointment. I then decided to go to the Willow Warbler nest and when I arrived they had fledged the nest.  I was sorry to have missed the event but glad that the chicks had been successfully reared. With the nest now empty, I was able to have a look at the little nest, remarkably small, made of grasses and beautifully lined with wool which made it very cosy. Ground nesting birds, because they are so vulnerable, grow very quickly and leave the nest very early. Last Thursday the chicks had wing feathers emerging and the eyes were about to open, and then, by the following Tuesday the chicks had grown enough to leave the nest. I estimate they would have been 12 days old?

There was still lots of interest around with several pairs of Whinchat showing really well.  I have noticed that when your presence is noted by the birds they announce their presence by showing well but from a distance.  Then as you try and get close to them they move away and continue calling.  Males are particularly hard to approach and I think that the whole behaviour is about nest distraction.