Michael Walters writes:
Chiffchaff territories have been filling up the wood since 10th March, the joint earliest date for Blean Woods, though exactly a month later than my first record of one in song in the Stour Valley. It was also a welcome relief to see them returning, after last year’s abysmally cold spring when my first reserve chiffchaff wasn’t until 6th April (the latest ever in the past 33 years is 8th April). My first Blean blackcap was on the moderately early date of 31st March, 13 days after I heard one singing in the Stour Valley. Given the sometimes delightfully warm weather we had been enjoying in late March, I was quietly confident that I would hear my first willow warbler before the month ended, but it was not to be, and the sweet songster arrived on April Fool’s Day. Still, that was a massive improvement on 15th April, which was how long I had to wait in the spring that never came in 2013. Finally, to round off the migrant scene to date, an early morning visit in light rain on April 7th, I was rewarded by a rather fleeting burst of nightingale song, not my earliest arrival date, but in line with the long-term trend for this species - back in the 1980s the norm was the third week in April.
Since this report was written, nuthatches have also been heard singing in Church Wood.