Although there seems to be a general perception that numbers and variety of migrants are down this year, Dave and I spent about three hours at Morton Bagot seeing roughly the same species as we saw here this time last year. If anything we saw slightly more.
Where I did fall short was photographing any of them. New for the year was a very distant singing Sedge Warbler, and new for the year (for us) at Morton Bagot were three Whitethroats, two Lesser Whitethroats, two Swallows, and a singing Willow Warbler. Five or six fly-over Redpolls may have been migrants, but could also be a sign that they plan to stay for the summer.
Earlier arrivals now bedding in were 12 Chiffchaffs, and 10 Blackcaps. The habitat seems ideal for them. Over at the flash field strange things are happening. The water level remains high, and the sedge has spread across much of the field. Despite an apparent absence of anywhere for them to nest, there are now a record three pairs of Avocets. Also very much at home are five Shelducks, but only one pair of Lapwings. Three Teal remain, always worth bearing in mind with the West Midlands Alldayer now just three weekends away.
I did at least get a couple of new butterflies for the year; a Comma, and a Large White (seen below Bannams Wood as I drove home), and also a Stoat (also seen from the car as it ran across the access road.)
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| Comma |
A few passage migrants would have been nice, but perhaps the weather is too settled to hold anything up.
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