29th April

To some extent, it wasn't certain whether today's lacklustre show on the ground was down to a lack of migrants or the strength of the blasting easterly keeping things hidden. The feel from the few mist-nets it was possible to open at the Obs was that warblers and the like were in short supply (the day's ringing total there was the lowest of the month), but nice afternoon gatherings of Wheatears and Yellow Wagtails in places out in the open suggested maybe diurnal arrivals were still dropping in. Aerial action was noticeably greater than it had been yesterday, with the steady passage of Swifts and hirundines having 3 Hobbies tagging along. The sea was as tricky to fathom as the land, with 40 Bar-tailed Godwits, 10 Black Terns, 2 each of Shoveler, Arctic Skua and Pomarine Skua, and singles of Red-throated, Black-throated and Great Northern Diver amounting to a decent tally off the Bill where there still seemed to be long spells when next to nothing was passing. A Greenshank was the pick of a limited selection of new arrivals at Ferrybridge, whilst an extremely late Black-necked Grebe was in Portland Harbour off Sandsfoot Castle.

Passing Swifts featured more strongly than they have done on any day so far this spring © Martin Cade:

Bar-tailed Godwits at Ferrybridge and Spotted Flycatcher at Southwell were among the day's grounded migrants © Pete Saunders:

We're not at all sure for how much longer we'll qualify for Government largesse what with there being wholesale changes afoot in the manner in which they support conservation initiatives in the countryside but we're very happy to accept their funding of our land management programme via a Mid-tier Stewardship agreement while that structure still exists. This week our contractor has been working on the fields in preparation for planting the latest rotation of wildlife-friendly sacrificial crops - we're particularly keen on this period since at least for a few weeks we have many acres of plough and, before the crops germinate, open ground to scrutinise for wagtails, Wheatears, chats and, for example, the likes of Short-toed Lark and Tawny Pipit that are just two of the rares that have put in appearances over the years during this window of opportunity:

This year the habitat looks particularly enticing because there's a nice mix of fresh plough and well-established crops to keep an eye on - often in the past the previous year's crops have not been of good enough quality to leave in situ but this year some patches still look superb and will not be replaced:

The open ground certainly acts like a magnet for migrants and was today festooned with Yellow and White Wagtails, Greenland Wheatears, Whinchats and the like © Martin Cade: