Sunday 17 March 2013

Ok , so I have had a couple of days off work and have been to a couple of local birding sights but I have also made a couple rounds of the local patch ,and although the last vestiges of winter remain there are a few signs that spring is coming although saying that this weeks weather forcast is very wintery .
Saturday morning was a wet affair with heavy rain and there was an upsurge in Redwing 58 plus and Fieldfare70 plus , birds moving east perhaps. Skylarks belted their song with 9 been seen or heard. Stock dove numbered 12 and 2 Pied Wagtail passed over. The most notable bird was a migrant Coal Tit in one of the hedgerows , I never seen one on the patch away from the garden before. A couple of Buzzards took advantage of the breeze to stretch their wings.
Sunday was mild and a good start was a Brambing and a Lesser Redpoll on the feeders . At least 5 Buzzards were up and calling. I was hoping for the first spring migrant but was in  the end not successful .Two flocks of Lesser Black Backed Gulls passed north east , very high up and calling as they went , perhaps a bit of vis mig.
Stock Dove were seen with 4 present and there were 5 Skylark today.. There was however a real sign of spring with at first 1 Meadow Pipit over north and then a flock of 40 plus birds on rough pasture.
 Winter Thrush"s were 50 plus Redwing including 2 singing birds (a first for me in this country), and 20 plus Fieldfare. Perhaps another sign of migration was the presence of a flock 60 plus Chaffinch on stubble with another flock of 10 passing east.
There were also 500 plus Common Gull on sheep pasture,and  a massive assorted gull  flock passing over the Malverns at least 2500 birds , all soaring on thermals . Not on the patch but very impressive all the same
 So a bit of early spring movement and the first Chiffchaff or Wheatear cannot be far away , here hoping