A real pleasure of the last few days has been the small numbers but regular overflying Whimbrel and Curlew. Two of the latter, whilst high, were in full song: an utterly beautiful sound!
Today was good day for warblers in the valley:
- Chiffchaffs outnumbered Willow Warblers by at least two to one: the first day this has occurred for over a fortnight. The scale and duration of this year's Willow Warbler passage has been far greater than any other year we can remember.
- Plenty of Whitethroats singing, and Blackcaps hawking for flies in the sallows.
- Grasshopper Warblers reeling below the Coastguard hut on the Deer Park
- Our first Sedge Warbler of the year in the garden (in song), and a Reed Warbler (not). Reed Warblers are by no means annual for us here.
And a surprise House Sparrow singing from the scrub near Lockley Lodge.
So four new species for the Garden Lockdown List, taking the total to 47 species in the garden, and 10 seen or heard from the garden, but outside it.
A walk to Marloes Mere tonight gave surprisingly good numbers and range of typically "winter" species, including c.30 Teal, a drake Wigeon, the ringtail Hen Harrier, and female Merlin. Plus 10 "Greenland"-type male Wheatears in the field by the ring fort near Gateholm.
