A lot of birders, myself included, buy into the theory that you can't really go wrong when the wind goes easterly. Anything migrating north will be deflected westwards into Britain, even to the Midlands.
So with the wind a brisk north-easterly this morning I was quite optimistic. Which made it all the more disappointing when, despite telling myself I would try extra hard, I ended the morning having seen less at Morton Bagot than I did on Sunday.
I suspect the wind was just a bit too fresh, suppressing song, and maybe its still a bit too early in the year. Anyway I failed to hear Lesser Whitethroat, Willow Warbler, or Sedge Warbler, all of which were present last time.
The Wheatear count was lower, now just four birds, all splendidly bright males. Out of about 15 Chiffchaffs, 10 were singing, and I also heard seven singing Blackcaps. About three Swallows, and two Sand Martins were still around.
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| One of the Wheatears |
The flash field contained four Avocets, a Green Sandpiper, 17 Teal and at least one Shelduck. The West Midlands Alldayer is now three weeks away so I spent some time looking for tricky species and found a Mistle Thrush and Nuthatch in Bannams Wood.
At least a few butterflies appeared in the sunshine including my first Orange-tip of the year.
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| Orange-tip |
I've written the day off as a blip!
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