A hot day with clear blue skies once the early morning fog lifted. A vocal Cuckoo was the pick of the day's migrants and perhaps the only new arrival with the Grasshopper and three Sedge Warbler on site presumed to be lingering from yesterday. Overhead there were two Yellow Wagtail with 20 Swallow, two Sand Martin and a late Chaffinch but no sign of any hoped for raptors.
The flat calm conditions offshore revealed three Red-throated and two Great Northern Diver with just seven Sandwich Tern feeding along with four Common and a brief Little Tern. In the estuary a lone Pale-bellied Brent Goose dropped into the Bight and counts included c40 Dunlin, 30+ Whimbrel, five Sanderling, a late Redshank and the Slavonian Grebe.
Ringing News: The Pale-bellied Brent Goose was ringed in at Seagrange Park, Dublin on 27/02/14 and was wintering at Harve de Regneville in northern France from 29/11/17 - 27/03/18 before also being recorded in the Channel Islands before turning up on the Warren.
Wildlife News: The sunshine saw good numbers of butterflies for the first time this year. The most frequent species was Green-veined White, but five Orange-tip was an encouraging sign. Other species included Peacock, Speckled Wood, a female Brimstone that flew east along the Dune Ridge, a scarce warren record and the first true migrant of the year a faded Painted Lady that was watching coming in off the sea and continuing northwards.
The Sand Crocus has finished flowering for another year but a second area of Mossy Stonecrop was found on site, between the shops and the seawall.
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