25th March

Clear skies and an at times keen northeasterly breeze might have been the recipe for a flurry of migrants a little further into the spring, but at this early juncture they weren't propitious conditions. A Hoopoe that showed up in a private garden on the island wasn't available to the fieldworkers who had to content themselves with the thinnest of spreads of routine early season arrivals: 30 Wheatears, 5 Black Redstarts and singles of Merlin, Moorhen and Firecrest were the best on offer at the Bill. The first confirmed sighting of a Puffin back in attendance at the auk colony at the Bill (we did hear a report of 3 there on one afternoon last week but the observer didn't get in touch with further details) was welcome news, with 2 Gadwall and a Red-throated Diver also through off the Bill.

One of the Large Tortoiseshells was seen at least once at the north of the island.

Wheatear and Skylark at Top Fields today © Nick Stantiford: