Bearded Reedlings

A nearly bird-free weekend, as the earlier spring-like weather has sent our over-wintering species north, but the later cold winds have kept the new arrivals from taking their place. This is a simplistic interpretation, but it'll do.
So...much time looking into empty trees and across empty reedbeds. But were we down-hearted? Well, frankly, yes we were a bit, which is unjust as we saw plenty of Little Egrets and Avocets, which should be enough to gladden anyone's heart.
One swallow was also seen, however, and a party of bearded reedlings was active in the reeds at Oare - appropriately since I was given Rory McGrath's similarly named book today. The real name of the reedlings and the book will be withheld to respect the sensibilities of any American readers.
Wood Ants were active at Blean, in this case moving a branch into their nest for food.
We repaired to Canterbury for lunch, at the splendid fourteenth century pub 'The Parrot', which takes its name from a verse in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales.
I was particularly pleased to see mention of a Throstle-Cock too, and Wood-Dove was a Sussex name for Turtle Dove.
Finally, a bird photo. Probably another Reed Bunting, this time with a highwayman's mask.