25th-28th April
The last couple of days have been very good and the coming days also look good, so for the first time in a while it's a slightly more upbeat blog post! It wouldn't be the same without some whinging! The 25th and 26th were quieter than we'd have hoped, the 25th's only highlights were six Brambling and a Willow Warbler, the following day wasn't much better with just a Goldfinch and a smattering of Wheatears.
The 27th seemed as though it would be quiet, the morning had produced very little but with a light easterly anything seems possible, it was about to get much better too, without a great deal of fuss at c1220 George picked up a raptor overhead, quickly establishing it was a small harrier, rattled off a few photos and watched as it headed out north. It was fairly clear once the photos were off the camera it was a Pallid Harrier, our second in as many years. It was a shame it was so brief but its a superb addition to the year list.
The 28th, the moment we'd been waiting for! With rain forecast in the afternoon but no solid arrival time we set out in the morning as normal, the morning passed without much happening, however the rain kicked in just after 1530, but migrants were seemingly dropping ahead of the incoming front. A male Redstart and a Mealy Redpoll at Holland Farmhouse seemed to get the ball rolling and things quickly snowballed, by the end of play there were some very soggy but very happy observatory staff with the afternoon producing: 11 Ring Ouzel, 5 Tree Pipit, 6 Redstart, 3 Pied Flycatcher, 14 Blackcap, 4 Willow Warbler, a Garden Warbler and a Whinchat. It was a frantic rush to get as much birding in as possible before tea but hopefully with it still raining tomorrow will be even better!
Comments