Migration stutters a bit

The pulse of weather fronts that we have experienced during the last week have had a stop-start effect on arrivals and departures. In between the days of wind and rain there have been a few fairly settled days with light winds. During these more Sand Martins have arrived, along with the first Ospreys, Garganey and Willow warbler of the season.

Osprey by Sarah Kelman

Those leaving have also taken advantage of the calm between the storms. Pochard, Goldeneye and Common Scoters have been on the move, as have Brent Geese and Red-throated Divers; 335 of the latter were counted flying past Spurn, East Yorks on the 4^th. Whilst there are still Redwings and Fieldfares to be seen, the BirdTrack reporting rate graphs show the steady departure for both.

BirdTrack reporting rate for Fieldfare

It looks like we are heading into another week of unsettled conditions but there will be odd days when there will be a window of opportunity for birds to move. Saturday looks like one of these. The front that has been blocking migrants in northern France for the last couple of days should have moved further east and the relatively light winds and settled conditions on Saturday should see held-up migrants move north.

Wheatear by Amy Lewis

We might see the first real arrival of Chiffchaffs and Wheatears, along with a few Blackcaps and more Sand Martins, Little Ringed Plovers and Garganey. The weather further north in the UK, and across the North Sea, is forecast to be a little more unsettled, so we might hang on to some of our winter visitors for a little longer. 

Now is the perfect time to brush up on your warbler identification skills so don't forget that we have video tutorials to help you separate Willow Warbler from Chiffchaff and Blackcap from Garden Warbler. If it's Swallow, Swift, House Martin and Sand Martin which cause you more of an ID headache then take a look at our Hirundines and Swift ID video.