quiet enough

A two hour wander about the patch mid-morning was again pretty quiet, with only 1 wheatear, 1 willow warbler, 1 chiffchaff, 1 whitethroat and 3 house martins (102). Maybe tomorrow...

a new troat

Sneaked out late afternoon for a quick look around Shite Lane, and was rewarded with a whitethroat for the year (101), along with a chiffchaff and a couple of wheatears.

ton up

Gleaned a couple more year ticks on the patch today. Firstly, several sedge warblers seemed to have arrived overnight and were all singing away in the reeds around Kilkeran Lake this morning. It was still quiet on the mig front though, with only 4 wheatears knocking about at Shite Lane, (despite a mega count of 28+ birds at Galley yesterday evening), plus 1 willow warbler and 1 chiffchaff. Two sandwich terns off the cove were also new for the year (100), while a reeling grasshopper warbler halfway along Long Strand was too far outside the patch to be audible from within, more's the pity! Still, can't complain, as I don't normally hit 100 species till June or July - this bodes well for the homecoming of the Golden Mallard!

Hammer time!

Had a gentle wander down Marsh Lane this morning - not much in the way of migrants apart from 2 wheatears and a singing  chiffchaff but a yellowhammer was a bit more like it (98)  - always a good one on the patch as they can be tricky.

taking stock

Quiet again for migs this morning, with just 5 wheatears, 2 willow warblers and 2 chiffchaffs around the Shite Lane area. Its been so clear lately that I think most stuff is just going straight over. A few whimbrel beginning to move through now, with a flock of 21 birds arriving at Long Strand this evening. Highlight of the day was a stock dove at Long Strand (97), which signals the end of having to scan all pigeons (hooray!), while a male tufted duck on the lake was the first for a while.

pleasant valley sunday

A lovely calm, sunny morning on patch, and a few more migs about. Three blackcaps and 6 swallows were both new for the year, while at least 6 chiffchaffs, 2 willow warblers and 3 wheatears were also knocking about. Bird of the day was a 2nd winter iceland gull over Long Strand (96) - they've been scarce enough this winter. Off patch, an early swift was at Red Strand this morning. 

not much doing

There certainly wasn't much sign of movement at Galley this morning, despite some good rain overnight. However did bag 2 willow warblers for the year (93), plus 3 chiffchaffs.

a sand martin at last!

Was out on patch quite a bit during today, for one reason or another, but didn't see any sign of a mig until this evening, when there was 1 sand martin hawking over the lake (92). A scandinavian rock pipit was near the ruined castle on the way out to the lighthouse late afternoon too.