Sunday May 1 - Migrants still on the move

 I should begin by thanking Andy G for letting me know that he visited yesterday and added a singing Cuckoo and a hawking Hobby to the Morton Bagot year list which I still claim not to be compiling this year. That brought the total to 97 before I even set foot this morning.

Dave decided to ignore this mornings' drizzle and join me to see what we could find. Two species we failed to see were the aforementioned Cuckoo and Hobby. The cold damp conditions being less than ideal for them. 

On the other hand I had heard a singing Reed Warbler before Dave turned up, so that was another one for the patch list. We soon noticed that there were more singing Lesser Whitethroats (six), Whitethroats (11), and Sedge Warblers (five) than there had been. Two singing Grasshopper Warblers were not new for the year, but were the first we'd actually seen (rather than just heard).

Grasshopper Warbler forgetting to skulk

It was all very encouraging, and got better as we skirted the Red-backed Shrike field as it contained three Wheatears and a #LocalBigYear tick in the form of a smart male Whinchat. The latter soon disappeared over the brow of the hill so the views were a bit distant. A Red Kite chose this moment to fly past, mobbed by a Raven.

Whinchat

Female Wheatear

At the flash field we were immediately struck by the good numbers of hirundines; 30 Swallows, and at least two each of Sand Martin, and House Martin, and from the looming Alldayer point of view the return of an Avocet was very welcome. We flushed a late Fieldfare into the top of an Oak, where it joined a pair of Starlings. (We'll be lucky if they are still around next weekend).

Even better was a Yellow Wagtail Dave spotted in flight. He was wondering at the anxiety in my voice as I initially failed to locate it. This was the first here for at least couple of years, and obviously another #LocalBigYear tick. Fortunately it made a repeat performance allowing me to see it, and then seemed to land somewhere behind the sedge. We moved to the second viewpoint and discovered it was a lovely male, though barely in range for a few record shots.

Yellow Wagtail

More good news for next weekend's alldayer was the continued presence of a drake Teal, a Little Ringed Plover, and the pair of Shelducks.

All in all this was another very lively visit, and reinforces my belief that this is the best time of the year to visit Morton Bagot.

One postscript is that I was told that a drake Scaup which had been found at Upper Bittell this morning, had flown to Lower Bittell. I decided to head over there promptly, but was disappointed to find it had gone....back to Upper Bittell (thus leaving the Circle and causing me to lose interest in seeing it).