Migration update...
Well as quick as they arrived, they were gone. It seems like 5 minutes ago that I was doing the rounds on my old patch in SE London, anticipating those first spring and summer migrants. Now several months later many of those birds are returning south towards their wintering grounds again.
Waders have been coming and going for weeks at Cliffe Pools but otherwise the biggest clue yet came when I opened my bedroom window one morning last week. Overnight, several Willow Warblers, a Sedge Warbler and a Garden Warbler had appeared in the tangle of Elder and ivy just outside. While Sedge warblers have been locally abundant, I’ve seen very few records for the others making me think these were birds on passage, feeding and resting en route south.
A juvenile Cuckoo appeared briefly at Northward Hill last weekend but was not around for long. It was the same for a Sandwich Tern that was spotted amongst a group of Black-headed gulls on Flamingo Pool on a blustery day at Cliffe. I missed the movement of Black Terns that was reported around the Thames Estuary between the 5th-7th , however I did get a glimpse of a possible Arctic Skua heading east down the river on the 8th. I was wrestling the scope in high winds and lost the bird after several seconds, but it did appear distinctly un gull-like. In fact my first thought was “falcon sp”, based on what appeared to be quite ‘pointed’ wings. Interesting but frustrating to leave it unconfirmed. Two adult female Wheatears were close to Shorne Marshes fort on the 9th, it’s always nice to see them. I came accross little of note for the rest of the week.
This week has been all about Plovers so far. Radar pool at Cliffe had upwards of 20 Ringed Plover this afternoon while Flamingo held nearly twice as many Grey Plover. My pick of the lot though was several hundred Golden Plover that I came across during a trip to KWT’s Oare Marshes reserve yesterday. Their position on the main flood, close to the path, gave me my best views yet of this pretty bird. Oare was also memorable for the sheer number of Black-tailed Godwit numbers present. I would guess that close to a 1000 birds were spread across the site/shore. A superb spectacle and still lots more to come...
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| Wheatear (Oenanthe oenanth) Shorne Marshes, 9/8/11 |
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| Sandwich Tern (Sterna sandvicensis) Cliffe Pools, 8/8/11 |
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| Ruff (Philomachus pugnax) Oare Marshes, 15/8/11 |
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