22nd April

Wall to wall sunshine and a brisk SE wind; there wasn’t too much around but there were a few year ticks with a Tree Pipit behind T4, an Arctic Skua back on Torness (a pale phase bird, possibly one of the breeding birds), a Short-eared Owl at Nether Linney – long overdue and three Common Scoters past the Lighthouse in the afternoon.

                Migrant totals included 2 Sparrowhawks, a Grey Plover, a Whimbrel, a year’s high count of 513 Black-headed Gulls, 4 Woodpigeons, 65 Sand Martins (a good influx, only just short of the island record), 21 Swallows, 27 Robins, 2 Stonechats, an increased 124 Wheatears, 4 Fieldfares, a Song Thrush, 4 Redwing, a Blackcap, 13 Chiffchaff, 4 Willow Warbler, a Rook, 5 Carrion Crows north, a Chaffinch, 3 Brambling and a Goldfinch.

Short-eared Owl