Glossy Ibis - still present
Bar-tailed Godwit (sum plum) - Ashgrave
Spotted Redshank (moulting from winter into summer) - Big Otmoor
6 Whimbrel
Great White Egret - Big Otmoor this evening
Black-tailed Godwit
2 Hobby - high over Greenaways
Yellow-legged Gull (1st summer)
White-fronted Goose
46+ Yellow Wagtail (35 on Ashgrave, 11 over)
2 Grasshopper Warbler
157 Sand Martin
2 Ruff
2 Dunlin
3 Pintail
Raven
60 Fieldfare
2 Redwing
(Isaac West and Peter Alfrey)
Superb effort! I wonder if this is the optimal time of year - just enough winter stragglers, or whether the 4+ extra summer species still to arrive tip the balance.
ReplyDeleteThanks Ben! I think probably any time from mid-April to mid-May has potential to be optimal with the right weather. I think if you have good fall conditions between mid-April and mid-May then that's the time to go. We got lucky in that we had 6 species of passage wader (Barwit, Blackwit, Spot Red, Ruff, Dunlin, Whimbrel) despite the complete opposite of fall conditions. Worth nothing that passage passerines were thin on the ground - no Wheatear, Redstart or Whinchat
DeleteAny obvious 'easy' gaps in the day list?
ReplyDeleteAside from those 3 (especially Wheatear), I think Mistle Thrush, Garganey, House Martin + Peregrine the most obvious. We also didn't try for any owls (Tawny would have been easy in Noke Wood)
DeleteHmm... Remarkable to think that - if all the stars aligned & a good migration day - you could get pretty close to the all time county record (still 114?) at this single site. Great effort anyway!
DeleteCheers. Certainly plausible to get pretty close but as you say, luck and perfect conditions needed. Maybe some long-staying rarities too (like the ibis). There's always some common birds to be missed though...
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