23rd - 24th May

 With a set of prolonged Easterlies and very little about something had to give somewhere and thankfully a spell of prolonged rain on the 24th finally bought about some much sought after migrants.

With highlights fairly thin on the ground the 23rd seemed as it was going to be a disappointment until a Wryneck showed up late in the day at the Surgery. A small dusting of common migrants also provided a bit of hope for the following day. A Common Whitethroat, Goldcrest and Willow Warbler were all in the garden at Bewan while a Spotted Flycatcher remained around Cursitter, so optimism was in the air with forecast indicating we'd get some much needed rain.

The morning of the 24th and most of the afternoon was a bit of a wash out with staff returning from census rather soggy and a bit down beat. However once the rain stopped at 5pm everyone emerged and the rewards were almost immediate, an Icterine Warbler was discovered just outside the front door of the obs and having missed out on one last year there was a bit more excitement than you usually get from an 'Icky'. This lead to three hours of good birding before the light closed in. A male Red-backed Shrike was found at Dennishill on the washing line, drying itself off no doubt! The next bird of note was a Wood Warbler at Trinley and the rest of the evening was made up of commoner migrants. A Cuckoo was singing by T1 while Garden Warbler, Common and Lesser Whitethroat, Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Whinchat, Pied and Spotted Flycatchers all posted low totals and gave a sense that the next day could be even better. 

                                   Icterine Warbler

                                   Cuckoo