19th April

It seems churlish to find fault with what's been reported to be the warmest April day for 70 years but the glorious conditions did migrant-seekers few favours, with most of what might have pitched up on island most likely passing high overhead without stopping during the hours of darkness; whether this was the case will never be known although the peculiar dearth of visible passage in seemingly perfect conditions during the daylight hours perhaps hinted at there being a bit of a migration blockage elsewhere. The only oddity of the day was the lingering Hoopoe that was mobile in a wide area to the north of the Grove. A minor flurry of routine migrants at dawn included 30 each of Willow Warbler and Chiffchaff at the Bill, where yesterday's 2 ater Coal Tits remained overnight but very quickly moved on and 2 Firecrests and a Bullfinch were the best of the new arrivals; interest elsewhere came in the form of a Grasshopper Warbler at Barleycrates Lane, 2 Canada Geese and a Great Spotted Woodpecker at the Grove and a Brambling at Blacknor. Sea passage was never conspicuous but included 5 Red-throated Divers and 4 Arctic Skuas through off the Bill.

Orange-tip and Green-veined White butterflies were both on the wing for the first time this year.

A seemingly endless procession of dog-walkers tempted out by the warmth of the evening saw to it that the Grove Hoopoe was extremely skittish and mobile - affording only a couple of brief settled views © Martin Cade: