Sunday 31st March

Another trip out in this boring, freezing Easter holiday.

Visited Brooms to check the fishing prospects, which fully justified my decision not to try yet.  Small match on and though they claimed they'd taken a few fish, I saw no evidence of it in the 20 minutes I was watching.  Most were fishing the pole well out on F1 pond. All the waters looked dead and there was absolutely sign of fish near the surface.  If absolutely forced to fish, I would have gone for the

A Fishing Match on the Annan

deep swim om the oval as I thnk that's where they'll be hiding.

Spoke to one guy who made a mysterious comment about big fish in there but he seemed a bit of a beginner.  Main consolation was one curlew and one kestrel overhead.

Decided on brief walk by the Annan, possibly willow tit connected, and quickly saw two magpies on the way (hooray! Means NUFC must now beat Benfica).  Once there observed wagtails in large numbers - mainly pied south of A75 bridge and mainly grey north of it, goosander, two dippers, two herons, cormorant, suspected redwings that all departed nervously once they saw me and six jackdaws sharing a small tree right next to the “Blue Bell Inn”.

On the way back a couple of not highly coloured tits flew into a tree right by me, but did not stay long.  I sat around but they did not return.  I think they were coalies, the fading light diminishing the appearance of colour.  There was however something about their demeanour and the length of their tails that did not seem quite right...