A cooler day than yesterday but the birding was distinctly hotter, at least in terms of quality if not quite quantity. Any day that starts with a shout for '
Hoopoe!' flying past the Obs patio is bound to be a memorable one regardless, but the combined spectacle of hoards of thrushes plummeting out of the sky made for some really exciting post dawn birding there that was topped off when a
Treecreeper made its way into a mist-net (the first island record for four years and the first ringed since 2019). Whilst totals for
Redwing and
Fieldfare reached over 300 and 50 respectively, it seemed other species were, in general, less well represented, with vismig totals from the West Cliffs of 61
Meadow Pipits, 34
Goldfinch, 11
Linnet, 6
'Alba' Wagtails, a
Redpoll and a
Yellow Wagtail, and grounded totals at the Bill that included 50
Chiffchaffs, 5
Black Redstarts, 5
Willow Warblers, 4
Blackcaps, 2
Firecrests and a
Goldcrest. Up-island, a further 3
Black Redstarts were present at Reap Lane alongside 2
Blue-headed Wagtails and 10
White Wagtails, a
Ring Ouzel was at St. Georges and the season's first
Redstart was at Easton.
Although the scarcities stole the show - Hoopoe and Treecreeper © Martin Cade and Blue-headed Wagtail © Pete Saunders...
...it was really the thrushes that provided today's spectacle, with a continual succession of Fieldfares and Redwings dropping from the heavily overcast sky, often settling briefly in treetops for a break before rising back up into the murk to continue their journey © Debby Saunders (Fieldfare) and © Martin Cade (Redwings):
Very much in keeping with the trend evident in recent days, today's first Redstart of the spring was extremely early - in this case not quite the earliest ever although there are only three previous years with records earlier than this; the earliest ever is one at the Bill on 15th March 2002:
