Lade - warm, dry, sunny, light airs - The overnight rain delivered the goods in a fall of Chiffchaffs. Their metronomic songs could be heard in gardens and shingle scrub hereabouts comprising at least 25 birds. Even the broom on the shingle ridges held grounded Chiffs. Also noted on the Desert an increase in Mipits and Skylarks, a pair of Stonechats and the first singing Linnets. Over south lake our first Swallow of the season fizzed north and the Great White Egret remained in the reed bed.
As the morning warmed up several Buzzards moved along the coastline and received a `warm ` welcome from the local Herring Gulls.
Back home in the garden 2 Firecrests were still present, while Coal Tit, Goldcrest and Chiffchaffs were noted in a Littlestone garden during the afternoon.
Elsewhere around the peninsula today plenty of Firecrests and Chiffchaffs were reported at Dungeness, plus Wheatears, Swallow and a singing Willow Warbler, while a Sedge Warbler sang at Dengemarsh; spring has officially sprung it would seem.
Here on Sheppey we're in our usual position of watching everybody else gorge on summer migrants while we have nothing.
ReplyDeleteI`m sure they`ll be with you soon Derek, although the Firecrest glut has been unprecedented and probably a British record, certainly for the spring anyway, involving many hundreds of birds. What fabulous sprites they are.
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