Calm, cold and clear again with the morning’s highlight being 2 Great White Egrets which flew south distantly offshore; other birds comprised 4 Blackcaps, a Chaffinch, 2 Chiffchaff, 3 Lesser Whitethroats, a Reed Bunting, an increase to 31 Wheatears, 5 Willow Warblers, a Common Tern, 15 Swallows and 2 Swifts.
Loompit was quiet in the afternoon with three singing Nightingales, 2 Whimbrel, 2 Common Terns, 75 Brent Geese still on the river and 6 Swifts with the hirundines.
A walk round the Benthall / Wyke loop first thing produced all the expected things in all the expected places including a singing Garden Warbler at Watery Lane.
I stopped for a little look at Grafham Water on the way back to Suffolk where I just walked along the dam which produced good numbers of migrants comprising a smart male Channel Wagtail with c30 Yellow Wagtails, my first Cuckoo of the year, 120+ Swifts, 200+ Swallows, 6 Little Ringed Plovers, 5 Common Sandpipers, 2 Dunlin and 8 Common Terns.
Went to a few sites in Shropshire despite the cold NW wind bringing multiple, heavy hail showers throughout the day; Venus Pool at first light produced my overdue first 2 Little Ringed Plovers of the year, a Common Sandpiper, a Red Kite and good numbers of singing Whitethroats, Lesser Whitethroats, Willow Warblers etc.
The river at Buildwas then produced a single drake Mandarin, 2 Oystercatchers, 2 Little Ringed Plovers, 2 Common Sandpipers, a Kingfisher, at least two male Redstarts and plenty of warblers seemingly singing in spite of the weather.
Birds at Chelmarsh Reservoir in the afternoon then comprised 7 Dunlin (this is the best Shropshire wader passage can offer!), 3 Common Sandpipers, a Little Egret, a Swift with good numbers of hirundines and more warblers including my first couple of Garden Warblers of the year.
A very different day with a blazing westerly wind (gusting up to force 9 overnight) and showers producing some different totals to recently including a slightly unseasonal drake Scaup which flew south and then up the river, 5 Common Scoter, 8 Swifts south amongst 5 Sand Martins, 6 Swallows and 15 House Martins, the first Hobby of the year in off the sea, 26 Dunlin south, 3 Whimbrel, a Kittiwake, 3 Mediterranean Gulls, 5 Common Terns and 2 Sandwich Terns whilst on the land there were 3 Willow Warblers, 2 Blackcaps, a Lesser Whitethroat and a Whitethroat.
I then drove back to Shropshire for my Covid jab where there was a Common Sandpiper on Priorslee Lake.
The change in the weather that we have been hoping for was in evidence today with the brisk and increasing WSW wind, overcast skies and approaching rain changing things up a bit; although the change was hardly ideal there was a sprinkling of new migrants around the compound including 7 Swallows south, 3 Blackcaps, a Chaffinch, 17 Goldfinches south, 2 Chiffchaffs, a Fieldfare (which eventually found a net), 2 Lesser Whitethroats, a Lesser Redpoll, an increase in Wheatears, 8 Willow Warblers and a Yellow Wagtail.
Offshore a trickle of birds comprised single Bar-tailed Godwit and Grey Plover with 13 Whimbrel, confusing Barnacle Geese – 43 came out of the river and went north at first light with then 25 which dribbled back south in small flocks through the morning, 4 Common Scoter, 4 Common Terns, 5 Gadwall south, a Gannet, 5 Mediterranean Gulls and 3 Sandwich Terns.
A walk around Felixstowe Ferry in the very calm but cold morning produced great numbers of singing Sedge Warblers, Reed Warblers and Whitethroats filling the ditches and bushes, at least 39 Whimbrel on the saltmarsh and the golf course (including a flock wandering around on the driving range effortlessly avoiding the golf balls!), a Short-eared Owl hunting over the fields and single Lesser Whitethroat and Wheatear.
Calm and chilly first thing, developing into the standard ‘sunny but still with a cold edge to it’ rest of the day; there was a little upturn in grounded migrants in the compound which included 3 Blackcaps, a Chaffinch, a Chiffchaff, 2 Lesser Whitethroats, a couple of new Robins, 9 Wheatears and 4 Willow Warblers.
Overhead and on the sea, birds of note comprised 2 Bar-tailed Godwits, a Kittiwake south, 2 Mediterranean Gulls, a Marsh Harrier high south, 8 Swallows, a Yellow Wagtail and the female Peregrine soaring around the dock cranes.
A walk in the afternoon to Trimley Marshes via Loompit was pretty productive; Loompit was similarly packed with singing migrants as yesterday including 4 Nightingales, 2 Lesser Whitethroats and an increase in House Martins while there was a nice array of highlights at Trimley consisting of a Swift, 3 Whimbrel, 46 Black-tailed Godwits, a beautiful, black Spotted Redshank, 2 Wood Sandpipers, a Red Kite and a Short-eared Owl which oddly spiraled up high together and headed upriver, a big female Peregrine from the VP (I don’t think it was the dock bird), lots of hirundines including 150 Swallows, 10+ Yellow Wagtails and an increase in singing warblers, notably Reed Warblers, Sedge Warblers, Whitethroats and Lesser Whitethroats.
