Cold, but plenty of migrants

The day dawned sunny but cold, with a chilly northerly breeze. Dave and I began birding with relatively low expectations. However, the copse by Netherstead Farm produced several Willow Warblers, a Chiffchaff, and several Blackcaps. These proved to be a precursor to a mini-fall of these species, our final tally being a site-record of 11 Willow Warblers (two of which were noticeably grey toned), plus six Blackcaps and eight Chiffchaffs. Dave then picked out two female Wheatears, and we eventually saw six (three males and three females). All day the occasional Swallow flew over, and we also saw the first House Martin of the year.


Willow Warbler

My previous best count for Willow Warbler was six on 22 August 2010 and I cannot recall seeing any more than three in a day here during spring. They seem to be primarily a passage bird and have always been absent from mid May until late July or early August.



male Wheatear

We continued to the flash, and it turned out that the best was yet to come. There was no sign of the Shelduck, but there were two Redshanks, a Little Ringed Plover, and seven Teal. Then Dave picked out a possible White Wagtail on the furthest flash, I started to scope the area and soon spotted the White Wagtail. Dave wasn't finished. Minutes later we were about to leave when he drew my attention to another distant passerine. This turned out to be a male Redstart. It was flying from the fence behind the flash down to the ground and then back to the fence, clearly feeding up before moving on. We later discovered another male Redstart as we walked back to Morton Bagot church. A couple of other notable sightings were four Tufted Ducks, and the first brood of Mallard ducklings. All in all a pretty successful morning.
The year list has advanced to 86 (White Wagtail not included as its a race of Pied Wagtail). I am still a few species short of last year but there have been some belters so I'm not complaining.