Migrants keep arriving

Everyday seems to be bringing new migrants. Yesterday was no exception. A short-eared owl was seen hunting over the dunes and saltmarsh in the early afternoon. This is quite late for a spring record. These birds are increasingly difficult to catch up with at Titchwell in fact we usually only have one or two records a year now.

A wood sandpiper, first for the year, was seen flying west early in the morning. At roughly the same time bittern could be heard booming, cuckoo singing and a ghostly barn owl was hunting over the marshes.

An osprey was seen at about 9am and again in the early afternoon this was probably the same bird hanging around and hunting before making its way further north to breed.

Other highlights for the day included pale-bellied brent goose, we usually get the dark bellied race; two pairs of red-crested pochard; red necked grebe on the sea and common swift, these are just beggining to arrive in numbers.

STOP PRESS......

This morning I had the second greenshank of the spring; 'booming' bittern; barn owl and house martin, this is my first house martin on the reserve this year and it's very unusual to see swift before house martin.