What an amazing week

Calandra Lark by John Harding

If rare birds are what makes you tick, the last week or so has to be one of the best spring periods on record. Last week’s Caspian Stonechat, Calandra Lark and Dalmatian Pelican (if accepted as a wild bird) would take some beating and it would take a very special trio of birds indeed. However, Britain’s second ever Green Warbler, found on Shetland, Britain’s first ever spring Blyth’s Pipit and the first ever Lammergeier (if accepted as a wild bird) seems to have done the trick.

But what of our common migrants?

The week has seen a rush of hirundine passage, particularly through a few south coast watchpoints. During the morning of 19 May sample counts at Portland, Dorset suggested that Swallows were passing at a rate of 550 per hour. It is interesting to note though that the BirdTrack reporting rate for House Martin is behind the historic reporting rate, so we might have a large arrival of House Martins still to come.

House Martin BirdTrack reporting rate 

Spotted Flycatcher migration seems to have stalled in the cooler northerly airflow that we have been experiencing. There might be a window in the weather after early rain on Sunday morning when fairly calm conditions are forecast on either side of the English Channel, but by early next week we will be back in northerly airflow again.

The forecast for northern Britain is a mixed bag with the early part of the week looking quite stormy at times. This could be good news for anyone heading north to catch up with Long-tailed Skuas, as the birds could be pushed close to the northern isles, they will almost certainly be accompanied by Pomarine Skuas too.

Nightjar by Neil Calbrade

Any still, clear conditions during the next week will also help any Nightjars that are on the move. Some birds are already back at their breeding sites but the BirdTrack reporting rate shows they will continue to arrive during the next couple of weeks. And of course, waders will continue to push north when conditions allow too. Wood Sandpiper and Temminck’s Stint are good mid to late May birds to look out for.

Nightjar BirdTrack reporting rate