A nice reward

A look at Mons Pool this morning revealed that most of the waders had departed since yesterday (just 3 Green Sands present), so I headed for the Trent at Meering to pull the Himalayan Balsam growing on the bank there. When I say 'bank', this is a steep slope, almost a cliff in places, covered in dense willow growth. Scrambling about on here, climbing through tangled branches amongst head-high nettles is hot, hard work, but over the last couple of years I have almost managed to get rid of the Balsam. My reward today came when a Quail started singing from just across the river (in Sutton-on-Trent parish), my first Patchwork Challenge bird!