This is my fourth winter at the Weymouth Wetlands and I’ve come to realise that snow in Weymouth isn’t as common as it is back in my homeland of South Wales. However, when it does snow in Weymouth the place comes alive with birds. You would have almost certainly noticed that we had snow last night so birding expectations were high this morning. Got to the Discovery Centre just before 9am when it was still sleeting hard so birds were understandably scarce. I said to Danny that as soon as the weather eases we’ll be inundated with birds. My prediction was right and from about 10am birds were pouring through. I managed to keep a rough count of most species, totals went like this..
Skylark – 1658
Golden Plover – 1420
Starling – 180
Redwing – 175
Fieldfare – 47
Those were the main ones but small numbers of Meadow Pipits and finches also passed through as did a single Woodlark which was a pleasant surprise.
Most birds were flying over Radipole mostly heading west. This is all triggered by snow covering their usual haunts which forces them to move on to find unfrozen fields where they can feed. In past cold winters certainly species such as Redwings have really struggled and have had to resort to using gardens to feed. Thankfully this winter we’ve not had extremely cold weather which has allowed birds to feed reasonably well hence the relatively small numbers of Redwing and Fieldfare today, but the snow does affect certainly species which is reflected in the morning’s totals.
I love days like today, its amazing to see so many birds flying over a town. If the weather stays cold we can expect to see more bird movements over the next few days. We’ll keep you posted!
Impressive stuff - that sounds like a lorra lorra larks. Are the yellow cars going west too?
Heading West would have taken them into the snow this morning but at least they weren't heading North! Excellent numbers, sounds like there's a party on tonight somewhere.
Seize the day!