Sunday 6th April

A female Redstart around Dead Dolphin Wood was a welcome record for this increasingly scarce migrant, the first here since Aug 2023 and just the third since Sep 2021. Other migrants included 10 Willow Warbler and four Blackcap with 24 Swallow, four Sand and two House Martin, two Siskin and a Buzzard heading east along with single figures of Meadow Pipit, Chaffinch and Goldfinch.

Redstart - Lee Collins

Robin - Dave Jewell

Counts from the estuary included 57 Dunlin, 31 Bar-tailed Godwit, 13 Dark-bellied Brent Geese, 13 Teal, eight Turnstone, six Sanderling, four Red-breasted Merganser, three Ringed and a Grey Plover, three Greenshank and a 2cy Mediterranean Gull. 

Elsewhere 17 Sandwich Tern, 11 Common Scoter, five Great Northern Diver (four south) and three Eider offshore with a Reed Bunting and a Water Rail at the Main Pond. 

Year list addition:

122. Redstart

Other Wildlife: Fewer flying insects in the cooling wind with just Peacock and Speckled Wood butterflies noted. The conditions were however ideal for Sand Crocus, with a single Fritillary in flower in Greenland Lake. 

Saturday 5th April

The first Red Kite of the year flew east over site at 10am, with a second bird north offsite along Eastdon Ridge at 11.10am. Between these sightings an Osprey flew north over Starcross at 10.50am.

 

Also overhead 38 Swallow, seven Sand and the first three House Martin of the year, 12 Meadow Pipit

and a Siskin. Grounded migrants included 11 Chiffchaff, 10 Willow Warbler, two Wheatear and a female Blackcap.

Wheatear - Lee Collins

Willow Warbler - Dave Jewell

Elsewhere 13 Sandwich Tern, two Great Northern Diver and an Eider were offshore and counts from the high tide included 315 Oystercatcher, 61 Dunlin, 37 Bar-tailed Godwit, nine Sanderling, eight Redshank, eight Grey and five Ringed Plover, six Teal and a Greenshank.

Reed Bunting - Lee Collins

Year list additions:

121. Red Kite
120. House Martin

Ringing News: Although most wintering waders are long gone the wintering Swedish ringed Turnstone is still present. Ringed in August 2021 on passage on Nidingen in the SW of the country, it has been present each winter since. 

Turnstone - Lee Collins

Other Wildlife: The warm weather and cloudless sky provided ideal conditions for Sand Crocus, with thousands likely in flower across the site, with hundreds easily viewable in the Crocus Compound behind the Visitor Centre. 

Sand Crocus - Kevin Rylands

Insects also responded with ten species of mining bee on the wing, with Cliff Andrena thoracica and Small Sallow A. praecox new for the year and Sandpit A. barbilabris the most numerous. A female Tawny Mining Bee A. fulva in the car park was the first for the Recording Area, the 78th bee species recorded on the Warren. 

The Grey Squirrel was in the Entrance Bushes, with a couple of Orange-tip outnumbered by Peacock, Small White and Speckled Wood.

Friday 4th April

The first two Whimbrel of the year were in The Bight amongst 78 Curlew over a low high tide, with 35 Dunlin, 10 Sanderling, eight Turnstone, six Grey and four Ringed Plover, five Teal and four Dark-bellied Brent Geese also in the estuary.

Whimbrel - Alan Keatley

Elsewhere the first two Swallow of the summer flew through, two Willow Warbler were by the Main Pond and two Sandwich Tern were offshore.

Year list additions:
119. Swallow
118. Whimbrel

Other Wildlife: Overcast conditions saw attention focussed on the beach where the minute scavenger beetle Cartodere bifasciata and seaweed rove beetle Cafius xantholoma were new for the year. 

Cafius xantholoma - Alan Keatley

Cartodere bifasciata - Alan Keatley

As the day brightened up other insects were more active with four species of butterfly and bumblebee on the wing with Orange-tip, Small White and Red-tailed Bumblebee Bombus lapidarius first emergences. Also new for the year the daggerfly Empis femorata and the hoverfly Common Meadow Syrph Eupeodes latifasciatus. 

Empis femorata - Alan Keatley

Thursday 3rd April

An evening visit after the rain failed to locate any migrants with the exception of a new male Pheasant! There were new arrivals offshore with eight Eider including four adult males, so at least two fresh in.

In the estuary at low tide, 10 Redshank, eight Turnstone, seven Dark-bellied Brent Geese, three Teal, a pair of Red-breasted Merganser, two Greenshank and two Sandwich Tern.

Wednesday 2nd April

An evening visit on the rising tide saw 72 Carrion Crow, 34 Dunlin, 22 Turnstone, 11 Redshank, seven Grey Plover, four Greenshank, two Dark-bellied Brent Geese, two Sandwich Tern, two Teal and a Knot in the estuary.

Other Wildlife: The first Common Carder Bee of the year was on the wing as were the first two Common Pipistrelle. A Water Vole showed well on the Main Pond.

Tuesday 1st April

The high spring tide resulted in little room for waders to roost in the estuary with 22 Turnstone and eight Sanderling resorting to what's left of the beach. The Curlew, Oystercatcher and 26 Bar-tailed Godwit found limited space on Finger Point with 29 Dunlin, six Grey Plover and a Knot also around The Bight. 

In the saltmarsh 17 Redshank and six Greenshank, with 12 Dark-bellied Brent Geese, 12 Teal and two Red-breasted Merganser also in the estuary, with two Sandwich Tern and a fly through Sand Martin.

Elsewhere a pair of Teal were on the First Pond and single singing Blackcap, Willow Warbler and five Chiffchaff were in the bushes.

Other Wildlife: Fewer insects today in the strong easterly wind with a Tipula vernalis cranefly noted and a saltmarsh ground beetle Pogonus chalceus in The Bight on the intertidal sand. In sheltered areas were at least six Common Lizard, a Comma, and a couple of Speckled Wood and Peacock.

Comma - Alan Keatley

Pogonus chalceus - Alan Keatley

Tipula vernalis - Alan Keatley