International Dawn Chorus Day - May 1st

Common Whitethroat (Russell F Spencer)

Had an interesting morning at The Scrubs yesterday. It was a fairly cloudy day with an occasional hint of blue sky and a northeasterly blow. The birdlife on show was nothing out of the ordinary with both species of whitethroat, Blackcaps, Chiffchaffs, Song Thrushes and Great and Blue Tits leading the parade.

Then out of the blue, or to be more precise, out of the grey headed over a flock of nine Bar-tailed Godwits that were moving purposefully east. Virtually any wader seen at The Scrubs is an oddity, seeing as we have no standing water or established marshy bits. The exceptions are the Snipe that are regularly flushed from the grassland, the recent regular occurances of Woodcock during the winter months and the occasional passing Lapwing. The godwits were part of a massive movement of birds across southern England including thousands past Portland Bill and the Patch at Dungeness along the south coast. A Common Tern heading north capped off what was eventually to be an interesting session.

Off to bed early tonight as tomorrow is International Dawn Chorus Day. I'm leading a walk bright and early on my patch hopefully to accompanied by a crowd of song bird lovers.