After yesterday's migration debacle today saw a considerable improvement, with the waft of an easterly and clear skies no impediment to potential movers; a great many nocturnal migrants no doubt carried straight on over without stopping but there was still a decent variety of laggards that'd grounded to take a break, whilst diurnal passage - particularly of
Swallows - was very strong. More than materialised might have been expected from the sea although there were hints towards nightfall of wader passage picking up. The grounded selection included most of the late April regulars even if numbers were hardly impressive; a
Corn Bunting at the Bill and a
Serin at Wakeham were the best of the new arrivals, with the likes of 5
Lesser Whitethroats, 4
Yellow Wagtails, 3
Reed Warblers and a
Pied Flycatcher scattered amongst the commoner fare around the south of the island. A sample count of 352
Swallows, 32
House Martins, 5
Sand Martins, a
Yellow Wagtail and a
Tree Pipit through in an hour at Blacknor looked to be wholly representative of some strong day-long diurnal passage that was still ongoing along Chesil as dusk approached. Four
Red-throated Divers, 2
Great Northern Divers, a
Balearic Shearwater and an
Arctic Skua were the relatively poor rewards from morning seawatching at the Bill but there was a suggestion of passage picking up during the evening, when 80
Bar-tailed Godwits and 30
Whimbrel headed over Chesil in quick time.
In a lot of ecological/land management circles the Sycamore is a maligned tree - damned for being a nasty alien - but we won't have a word against it: quite apart from being one of the few tree species that positively thrives on Portland, it provides a vital resource for all manner of migrant birds. Its autumn worth is well known, particularly late in the season when its last leaves are so often alive with Chiffchaffs and Goldcrests; less appreciated is how good it can be in spring, when its flower sprays are full of bugs that in turn attract many hungry warblers like this Willow Warbler and Lesser Whitethroat © Pete Saunders:
Some fitfully delivered song from a newly arrived Garden Warbler at the Bill © Joe Stockwell:
