For those who take an interest in this bi-annual event i thought i'd make a start on the passage and arrival of birds seen off and around Exmouth on there way north or to stay with us for the breeding season.
I'll try not to bore you with every bird! but hopefully once something different is seen in the south we could see how quickly the country is populated with different species i.e. Swallows, Martins, and Swifts. Some migrants will travel over night where they won't be seen until they drop in further north or first seen at their breeding grounds, which would be good to mention them to.
Some of our winter visitors have started to move on. Last week our Avocets numbered 200+ down from 600+ in January, yesterday an observer counted only 30+ so birds are on the move.
The first Sandwich Tern was seen fishing over the sandbars off of Exmouth yesterday morning.
If this is of interest to you and want a day by day account of what is arriving or moving then the Portland Bird Observatory and field centre Dorset may be worth a visit. http://portlandbirdobs.blogspot.co.uk/search they get some great birds passing through. They also trap Moths on the Bill which will be of interest to some of our bloggers. There is alway a good photo or two on this website to.
I'll do it just for fun!
First Sand Martin reported yesterday on Lundy.
Thanks for link to Portland BO!
Do you ever see Ospreys flying in DO?
2013 photos & vids here
eff37 on Flickr
There have been a couple of records of Sand Martin reaching as far North as N.Yorkshire. Another type of migration that we find interesting locally is "attitudinal" migration where the birds have wintered in lower lying habitat and move back to the hills and mountains to breed in the spring/summer months.Monitoring this movement gives us a good reason to get out on the moors and hills. We have noticed this migration starting in the last week or so even though there are still patches of snow lying behind the walls.
Pete
Birding is for everyone no matter how good or bad we are at it,enjoy it while you can
Great stuff Seaman, This could be a very interesting thread as the weeks go by. First Wheatear reported today so keep a look out on the hills and moors in the coming days.
Hi Wendy you are welcome, yes Ospreys are seen and sometimes stay on the Estuary for a few hours or a day before heading north, and are great to see. The return trip in the Autumn tends to be best as we have had two to three birds hang around for days feeding on Grey Mullet before they head south to Africa for the winter. Last Autumn I watched an Osprey fishing on the Taw Estuary, that was nice as I seamed to be the only observers the area that saw it... sometimes that feel personal. The three pictures above were just record shots as the bird was some distance away and best seen through a scope. Hopefully see more Ospreys popping by on their way north and again on their return trip.
Wow DO, how fabulous a spot was that & with great pics too, thanks for sharing!
Ospreys are starting to pass through as far north as Yorkshire with one or two going up through the Dales area.Chris thought she saw one near Harrogate in Monday when she was picking young grandson up but she was not 100% certain.
Nothing seen or reported this way at the mo.
There seams to be two 2015 Spring migration threads running at the mo so do we keep two going or move to one?
Increase in Wheatear numbers along the south Devon coast today, with more sightings of Sand Martins to. Must get up to my local coastal patch in the morning to see for myself.
We got our first Sand Martin of the year at the YWT reserve at Staveley just North of Harrogate.I was a little strange seeing the Martin at the same time as watching winter visiting Redwings and Fieldfare.