This is always the time when I get ahead of myself. "That wheatear will be hear any day now"...is the thought that runs through my head every morning, but in reality its often the very end of March or even the beginning of April when the first of the true migrants start to come in. It's a great motivator to get out at a time when the rewards are not always obvious though, and it certainly adds to the year list.
There are certainly signs of movement - long-tailed ducks are becoming regular, and red-throated divers more numerous. There has also been a bit of gull vismig. Common gulls seem to be trickling past, but black-headed gulls are more obvious, with a couple of deccent flocks noted passing north, including one of about 40 birds.
There has been a fair bit of patch quality, with further records of shelduck, rook, mistle thrush, yellowhammer, reed bunting, lesser redpoll, stock dove and golden plover all added to the list - talk about a fine selection of patch gold! There have also been a few pleasant surprises in the form of peregrine, and some genuine migrants like goldcrest, and a woodcock that came in-off on Monday 23rd. On top of all this there have been a couple of littoralis rock pipits - but they deserve a post all to themselves.
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