6th March

Quiet, heavily overcast conditions at dawn looked as promising as anything we've woken to so far this spring and at least partly lived up to expectations. It's still a little early for a really good arrival on the ground but 30 Chiffchaffs, 10 Goldcrests and a Firecrest was a decent return of newcomers from the Bill and perhaps made the lack of thrushes and Stonechats all the more surprising; with the exception of a few Lesser Black-backed Gulls, overhead passage also didn't feature. Gannets were again on the move offshore, with 185 through east off the Bill where 6 Red-throated Divers were the best of the rest.

On the greyest of days at the Obs this new Firecest provided some welcome sparkle © Martin Cade:

The continuing absence of any long-distance migrant moths has been a bit disappointing but this morning we had some compensation in the form of a Blossom Underwing in one of the Obs garden moth-traps. This is a moth on the up for us: although it does have a known propensity to disperse from its usual oak woodland haunts - we're guessing ours most likely originate from France - this is only the eighth year we've recorded it at the Obs; however, it has now turned up in five of the last six years. This morning's specimen was also exceptionally early: our previous records span a date range of 22nd March to 18th April © Martin Cade: