23rd May

Today was rescued from total failure by a Serin first heard calling then seen within the Obs Garden and Hut Fields. A Cuckoo in Culverwell and a pair of Corn Buntings at the Bill were an excellent supporting cast, but common migrants were extremely thin on the ground with just two each of Spotted Flycatchers and Reed Warblers and singles of Redshank and Yellow Wagtail. The sea was also quiet with little more than a Great Northern Diver and 62 Common Scoter.

Rather conveniently the night recording kit was still switched on when the Serin made a quick early morning dash over  the Obs patio: 



The Cuckoo was good value since it was gorging voraciously on what must have seemed to it like conveyor belts of Lackey caterpillars moving along the tree branches at Culverwell - wherever it chose to perch there was a constant stream of food on tap that it gladly made the most of © Martin Cade: