7th April

Another pleasant day, with the surprise discovery being a drake Green-winged Teal on Gretchen Loch. The jury's out at the moment as to if it's a new bird, or the wintering one (last seen 9th March) re-appearing. This is the classic time of year for American 'quacks' to get caught up with our northbound wildfowl, and 5 drake Shovelers also on Gretchen today add weight to this theory. At first glance it looks very similar plumage wise but we'll see what it does over the next few days and have a good look at the photo's before making a judgement. The clear night clearly encouraged many of the recently grounded passerines to get going again as both Robins and Dunnocks barely made it to double figures today. Meadow Pipits however, moved south throughout the day with the total of 329 merely a conservative estimate and 26 Wheatears also seemed to move on quickly. The first Carrion Crow of the year was also seen, 118 Fieldfares were the pick of the thrushes, 11 Woodpigeons and a Collared Dove were in the Holland area and 34 Curlews headed north.