Today had a little bit of everything going for it, with a bountiful selection of grounded common migrants including a couple of firsts for the spring, some strong overhead passage including a classic spring overshoot and a least a small uptick in sea passage to boot.
Chiffchaffs were once again the most numerous of the grounded arrivals everywhere, with the 400 or so logged at the Bill including many that were really actively moving straight through; the wide selection of lower totals around the island included the likes of 100
Wheatears, 25
Redstarts, 10
Black Redstart and singles of
Ring Ouzel,
Pied Flycatcher and
Bullfinch, with a
Garden Warbler at Southwell and a
Whitethroat at Verne Common both firsts for the year. Overhead passage was strong through the morning before tailing off sharply towards midday; a
Red-rumped Swallow through over the Crown Estate Field was by far the highlight, whilst 400
Meadow Pipits and 280
Linnets from a two and a half hour sample count at Wallsend gave an indication of the numbers involved. Sea passage picked up a little, with 105
Common Scoters, 8
Red-throated Divers and a
Gargeney amongst others through off the Bill.
A first dragonfly on the wing this year - a Broad-bodied Chaser - emerged from one of the Obs garden ponds.
A couple of snatched records of the Red-rumped Swallow © Joe Stockwell:
A few of the days migrant selection - Redstart © Debby Saunders, Wheatear and Redshank © Pete Saunders and Yellow Wagtail © Joe Stockwell:
