Cricket update

Production editor Matt Merritt writes:
The cricketing bird list is coming along slowly but steadily, both helped and hindered by the rainy May we've been having. A week last Saturday, we only managed 20 overs at Thrumpton. The bonus was that it's just across the River Trent from Attenborough Nature Centre, and sure enough, while we were sat around wondering whether the showers would ease up for long enough to get finished, two Buzzards came over. They returned a little later, once the sun was out again, spiralling over the umpires as they tried to make a decision on whether to abandon the game and head for the pub (they did). There were two Grey Herons as well, plus loads of Jackdaws and Swifts.
Last weekend, at home to Caythorpe, there were plenty of House Martins, plus Green and Great Spotted Woodpeckers in the wooded part of the pit bank down one side of the ground. That took the total so far to 16, and a nice bonus was that a pair of Starlings have decided to build their nest in the roof of our pavilion.
The one disappointment so far has been the lack of Swallows - there's no shortage of them over the water at any one of a half-dozen local reservoirs and lakes, but so far they've stayed away from the cricket. In the past, they've often skimmed ultra-low over the outfield.
Still, no ducks either so far, for which I'm grateful.