Bits and Bobs

 Cool, cloudy, WNW 2 - A circuit of the Trapping Area and Desert with Ted this morning produced very little considering we`re approaching the last week in April, which is often the `business end` of spring migration. However, that said there were a few Common and Lesser Whitethroats in song and singles of Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler and Blackcap in the bushes. An incoming Cuckoo flew straight through as did two Yellow Wagtails, several Swallows and four Whimbrels, while plenty of Linnets and a Wheatear were also noted. Twenty minutes staring at the sea from the hide delivered nothing of note apart from a couple of distant Gannets, and the male Peregrine scattered the Feral Pigeons over A Station. Elsewhere across the point today a Garden Warbler, a Pied Flycatcher and a Hobby were reported, while the first Pomarine Skuas and a Black-winged Stilt were logged over the weekend offshore and on the hayfields respectively; the latter still being present today.

                                 Mallard ducklings, 

Around New Romney this past weekend has seen the arrival of the first Reed and Sedge Warblers, Cuckoo and Lesser Whitethroat, plus an increase in Reed Buntings and Linnets along the sewer margins. I`ve noted a Barn Owl on two early-morning outings while a female Merlin was something of a surprise yesterday chasing a Skylark, which it missed. Many of the stubble fields hereabouts have now been sprayed off with a herbicide, turning them yellow, (just as the Skylarks have settled down to nest...) in preparation for a spring barley sowing.