A trickle of migrants

Lade - cool, cloudy, drizzle, light airs - Following the fog of yesterday it felt good to be out and about in clear light this morning. The bushes around the willow swamp held a scattering of Chiffchaffs and Willow Warblers, plus singles of Sedge Warbler and Blackcap. There was a big increase in Linnets, with up to 50 scattered across the gorse bushes, many in song, along with our first Wheatear of the year on the local patch. A few Mediterranean Gulls drifted over and the Herring Gulls went into a lather over a Grey Heron that had been working the ponds along the coastal gardens.
  An evening visit yielded two Swallows over south lake and a pair of Stonechats on the Desert.

Dungeness - On the bird reserve this afternoon the long-staying Ring-necked Duck and Long-eared Owl were in their usual locations, while a Wheatear flew across the access road by the bee hive bend.
Around the reserve circuit summer visiting Swallows, Sedge, Willow and Reed Warblers were all noted, juxtaposed beside several lingering Goldeneyes on Burrowes.