It's the same pattern every year, a few early sand martins and swallows and we think that summer has arrived! I managed to escape the visitor centre for an hour today but there was no sign of summer as I sat freezing on 'The Hump' hoping for an early osprey (or better!) The Hump is the slightly raised area on the west bank path fifty yards before Island hide - it is a great place to see visible mgration.
My hour of freedom soon disappeared with sightings including 2 distant common buzzards (probably locals rather than migrants), five female and two male marsh harriers and a bunch of swallows. A blackcap gave a few brief notes from the end of Meadow trail and a sedge warbler grumbled at the cold southerly wind from the reed bed.
On my way back to the centre I spied six cracking wheatears in the grazing meadow and a water rail squealed at me from the Feeders ditch.
Other birds from the visitors sightings log today included white, pied and yellow (first record of the spring) wagtails, accompanied by water and meadow pipit along the Parrinder bank. Five velvet scoters hid among more than a thousand common scoters off shore but there was no news on the red necked grebe off shore today.
Keep on birding!