April 8th Migration Watch

After a couple of warm and sunny days, we expected a few more migrants to have arrived; and so it turned out. The number of chiffchaffs and blackcaps singing had doubled since Friday and they were joined by singing willow warblers. Three swallows flew over the Hayden Hide and settled on one of our skeleton trees. then a pair of common terns patrolled the Heronry Lakes. The grey, damp overcast and the lack of a breeze left us with no raptors to view at all, and we missed out on a few common birds like starlings and sparrows, but it was pleasing to see marsh tit, goldcrest and treecreeper as they can be quite elusive.

Great crested grebe.

The "Tick and Twitch" walk produced 44 species in total but I reckon our target of fifty would have been reached by tea-time. Here is the list as it stood at 12:30 today.

Tree-creeper.

8th:  Great crested grebe, cormorant, grey heron, Canada goose, greylag goose,
        mute swan, mallard, teal, wigeon, gadwall, tufted duck, coot, moorhen,
        wood pigeon, stock dove, feral pigeon, collared dove, common tern,
        black-headed gull, lesser black-backed gull, kingfisher, green woodpecker,
        great spotted woodpecker, wren, dunnock, robin, willow warbler, chiffchaff,
        blackcap, goldcrest, tree-creeper, great tit, blue tit, marsh tit, long-tailed tit,
        blackbird, song thrush, reed bunting, greenfinch, chaffinch, goldfinch, jay,
        magpie, jackdaw, rook, carrion crow, swallow. (47 by lunchtime)

        P.M from window: Magpie, great tit, blue tit, marsh tit, dunnock, robin, chaffinch,
        collared dove, GS Woodpecker, squirrel, wood pigeon, Canada goose,
        mallard, blackbird. (David Bale)