What a Difference a Spring-like Day Makes!

It was glorious this morning as I headed on to Rawcliffe Moss to feed. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me to show you how glorious (school boy error you might think) as I had popped out of work for a short visit. As I drove onto the Moss I had 2 Buzzards soaring together in a thermal and then over the next 45 minutes I had a further 9! Five together at once! For some video footage of one or two Buzzards migrating over Falsterbo, Sweden last autumn click here

Down at the feeding station were 3 Yellowhammers, 13 Chaffinches and 121 Tree Sparrows. There were very few Tits at the feeding station as they were presumably prospecting for nest sites in nearby woodland. I headed along the '97 hedge' and up towards the wild bird seed mix and I had 122 Skylarks. I can only guess that the flock has built up with birds on return passage.

The wild bird seed didn't hold any birds but I could see 8 Corn Buntings perched along some fencing and then I had another flock of 10 fly over. A group of 110 Pink-footed Geese arrived high from the southeast on a southeasterly breeze and I wondered whether these were some birds arriving from Norfolk. As I headed back south along the '97' hedge 1,500 Pinkies lifted from the 'Top Moss' and split up into smaller groups and started dropping back in close to where they had taken off from.

It was a short walk in some warm sunshine, but with two figure and three figure Buzzard and Skylark counts I was very happy. Saying it was a spring-like day, there was a Wheatear in Cornwall yesterday and a Swallow down there today! So keep looking.

Coming soon: