24th March

Plenty of fall ingredients in the air today with overcast skies, bouts of drizzly rain moving northwest across the Channel and a brisk northeasterly wind. The main response was overhead, where Meadow Pipits were arriving plentifully on a broad front throughout the morning, with a sample three hour count at Blacknor coming up with 1500 north; the same watch also produced 46 Linnets, 25 phylloscs, 8 Chaffinches, 6 alba wagtails, 2 House Martins, a Marsh Harrier, a Ring Ouzel and a Goldcrest heading through, whilst additional species elsewhere included the likes of several Sand Martins, a Sparrowhawk, a Swallow and a White Wagtail through at the Bill and a Redshank through over Reap Lane. For the most part it was unexpectedly quieter on the ground: Ring Ouzels were represented by 5 at the Bill and 1 at Thumb Lane, and 3 Redwings and a Fieldfare were of note at the Bill but, for example, the totals of grounded Wheatears and Chiffchaffs there barely reached 40 apiece. Aside from the migrants, the wintering Hume's Warbler put in a couple of appearances at Thumb Lane. The only sea reports were of 3 Red-throated Divers through off the Bill and 3 Eider and a Slavonian Grebe lingering on at Ferrybridge and Portland Harbour respectively.

The Bill Ring Ouzels looked to be moving through pretty sharpish and the tentative day-total of 5 might even have included some duplication; this one pitched in for a short while in the Strips © Martin Cade: