The migration has come in fits and starts over the last week or so, reflecting the interesting weather and sometimes big winds.
It feels as though the main flow of warblers is tapering off, but the Whitethroats are clearly on territory now. And we were blessed with a couple of singing Willow Warblers all through the last couple of days: a lovely accompaniment to work to.
The big surprise of this migration continues to be Sand Martins and, to a lesser extent House Martins. We have seen Sand Martins almost every day this week, sometimes in groups of up to 20, feeding over the Car Park field or, this morning, right down in the valley, along with Swallows and House Martins. By comparison, in some years we have only seen Sand Martins on one or two days, and House Martins not much more often.
As for the Garden Lockdown List, today’s exciting addition is a Starling, that seems to be feeding with (or on?) the cattle in the Deer Park!
