Scotland

29 April - A sunny evening on arrival prior to my Affric/Mullardoch walking trip, and a productive hour before dinner - the Osprey on its usual roadside pylon nest at Lochluichart, and 2 superb calling flyover Black-throated Divers at Loch Gowan near Achnasheen, where there were also 3 Greenshanks and several Common Sandpipers. A Red Kite was over the A9 at Muir of Ord.

....and Grasshopper Warbler

27 April - A Grasshopper Warbler (pic) reeling, but not seen, at Mouldon Hill CP this evening, in cold and slightly breezy conditions. Also at least 5 Sedge Warblers, and Willow Warblers, Chiffchaffs, Blackcaps and a Garden Warbler.

Nightingales.....

27 April - A fine early morning for the first transect of my tetrad in the BTO Nightingale (pic) survey, and I heard a total of 5 singing males around pits 43/38/30,together with at least 4 Garden Warblers and my first 2-3 Cuckoos of the year (in the UK). A Kingfisher was seen in flight and several Common Terns flew over. Later I saw and heard my first Whitethroat and Lesser Whitethroat of the spring, at pits 95/68. A Black-tailed Godwit was on the scrape on pit 74, and 2 Whimbrel were still in the field by pit 83. Good numbers of Swifts and Sand Martins feeding over the lakes.

Little Terns at CWP....

26 April - Kim Milsom found 2 Little Terns at pit 74 this morning, and I saw one of then briefly (pic) on a short pre-work stop - also a Whimbrel present.

Arctic Tern influx....

25 April - A deep low crossed southern England today, and produced an exceptional inland displacement of Arctic Terns (pic), together with Little Gulls and Black Terns. There were an amazing 200 Arctic Terns counted in the CWP, including 120 on pit 74 - together with 11 Little Gulls and a Black Tern. This evening after work, there were just 5 Arctic terns left on pit 74 and 3 on pit 16. Pit 74 also produced 20 or so feeding Swifts.

CWP this evening.....

24 April - a productive hour at CWP before dark, with an Arctic Tern (with 5 Common Terns) and 8 Swifts being the highlight at pit 74, where a Nightingale was singing by twitcher's gate. At Waterhay, a Whimbrel(pic) and an Oystercatcher were in the field adjacent to pit 83, and the usual Reed and Sedge Warblers were singing in the reedbed.

Extremadura in spring revisited....

20-21 April - A 2 day visit to Extremadura, linking up with a small group based at Finca Santa Marta (1) near Trujillo. Rather borderline weather, cloudy with a few sunny intervals, very windy on the 20th, nuch less so on 21st, and cold! Once 50 or 60km west of Madrid, Black Kites (17) and White Storks (12,13) became regular along the roadside. Almaraz reservoir (10,11), just off the E5 50km before Trujillo, was excellent as usual, visited both days. Birds seen there included - Black-winged Kite, Short-toed Eagle (18-20), Lesser Kestrel (25,26), Marsh Harrier (24), Spoonbill (31), Glossy Ibis, Purple Heron (27,28), Squacco Heron (29), Great White Egret, Gull-billed Tern, Great Reed Warbler (37), Savi's Warbler (38), Cetti's Warbler, Fan-tailed Warbler, and Penduline Tit (nest building,36). The advantage of Almaraz is that a causeway crosses the eastern end of the reservoir, and allows good photographic opportunities. The other main area visited was the dehesa from Jaraijeco towards Monfrague NP (2-9), and then the National Park itself including the Castillo. This always gives amazing eye-level views of raptors, this time including 1-2 Egyptian Vultures (23) among the squadrons of Griffons (22), but the highlight was a telescope view across the valley of an incubating adult Spanish Imperial Eagle on its nest. 1-2 Black Storks (14,15) were seen soaring over the adjacent Penafalcon massif on both days, and a male Blue Rock Thrush (32,33) was singing below the Castillo. Crag Martins flew around the cliffs. On the 21st, a visit to the bridge over the River Tajo produced a single Alpine Swift (34) in addition to the large numbers of breeding House Martins. A couple of Black Vultures (21) were seen from the park road. The dehesa itself held a fine range of birds including Booted Eagle (16), another Black Stork at a small roadside pool, Great Spotted Cuckoo, Azure-winged Magpie, Bee-eater, singing Cuckoos and Woodlarks, and small numbers of Red-rumped Swallows (35). Finally a pre-breakfast trip on 21st to the Sierra Brava reservoir gave views of 4 Montagu's Harriers including a melanistic male, several Marsh Harriers, several Hoopoes, a pair of Black-eared Wheatears, Black-winged Stilts on a couple of pools, and numerous Black Kites and White Storks along the roadside. We were too early to see Rollers as they had not yet arrived. Totals of birds seen as follows - Black Kite 142, Short-toed Eagle 7, Booted Eagle 17, Spanish Imperial Eagle 1, Montagu's Harrier 4, Marsh Harrier 7, White Stork 186, Black Stork 3, Red-rumped Swallow 16, Alpine Swift 1, Hoopoe 9. All in all, a very successful couple of days (courtesy of Easyjet) despite indifferent weather. Other photo - Cattle Egret, 30 - photos JM.

Some photos.....

16 April - Here are some excellent additional photos of recent birds - the top 3 are of the Little Gulls at Farmoor, copyright Matt Prior (1) and Nic Hallam (2-3), and the lower is of a male Ring Ouzel at Liddington, copyright Andy Smith.

Spring passage at Farmoor....

15 April - A late afternoon visit to Farmoor, excellent in the ongoing NE winds with 9 Little Gulls (5), including 8 superb summer-plumaged adults, feeding over F2 with at least 5 Common Terns (4). On the causeway 5 + Yellow Wagtails (1,2) were feeding with several White Wagtails (3). A large number of hirundines were also feeding over the reservoir, several hundred Sand Martins together with a few House Martins and Swallows. A Red Kite was over the sailing club. Photos JM.