23rd-25th May
It seems the birds just keep on coming and for the time being they don't show any inclination that they might stop, Holland has started a represent a Scandinavian forest in recent days with Icterine Warbler song blaring out at various intervals! I will make this more of a round-up blog post, it's too good out there to sit inside writing about birds, I'd rather be seeing them, so sorry for that!
Thursday 23rd May- Highlights: 19 Red-backed Shrike, 12 Icterine Warbler, 1 Marsh Warbler (Ancum)
Another great day in the field with lots of migrants despite very foggy conditions, it quickly became apparent there had been another arrival of Shrikes and now the Icterine Warblers we felt we were missing had joined the fray. It wasn't just scarcities either, the island was punctuated with commoner migrants such as Lesser and Common Whitethroats, Willow Warblers, Chiffchaffs, Pied and Spotted Flycatchers
Friday 24th May- Highlights: 17 Red-backed Shrike, 9 Icterine Warblers, 1 Grey-headed Wagtail (Grind), 1 Marsh Warbler (Ancum), 1 Quail (Vincoin)
A very similar story, migrants galore and more arriving, the weather had also cleared so there was perhaps a little bit of turn over, a drop in of migrants at the north end late in the day lead to building anticipation for the following day.
Saturday 25th May- Highlights: 17 Red-backed Shrike, 11 Icterine Warbler, 1 Marsh Warbler, 2 Nightjar, 2 Blue-headed Wagtail, 1 Grey-headed Wagtail, 2 flava wagtail sp., 1 Curlew Sandpiper, 5 Russian White-fronted Goose
Another cracker, seemingly birds everywhere, lots of migrants and some very tired staff members. The nets managed to break double figures of Icterine Warblers ringed, the standing total as I'm writing this is now 14!
Icterine Warbler giving it the beans
Comments