Mike Crawley
Emeritus President at Burnage Rugby Club
A few singing at Carsington Water yesterday afternoon in the sunshine
Personally Ken I'd guess that the bird you saw 10 days ago was an overwinterer rather than a fresh in migrant with a sore throat
Richard, I've never had an overwintering bird in what is a breeding habitat behind the house. If I drop 50m to the Lee Valley...2 miles away, I can guarantee overwintering birds. There is not sufficient available cover to support, indeed from my experience in the Lee Valley....reeds, sedges and mature willows appear to be requisite cover for the species, none of which is present at site.
Well ... it could easily have been a UK wintering bird starting its wanders ... it may have been a male equally as song seems a bit intermittent and partly weather-dependant too ...
I was under the impression that there can also be a scattering (thinly spread) of wintering birds throughout - probably ranging widely or in random woods/garden/farm hedge habitat.
New Chiffs were being ringed in early March but it isn't clear whether these were migrants from the south or wintering birds from elsewhere moving through the site. However the first definite influx of migrants from the south (as evidenced by a matt of feathers on the fore-crown caused by pollen picked up at migration stop overs) occurred on 12th and 13th March when 50 new birds were trapped.
No large influx has been noted since then.
As noted earlier (post 17) our first major arrival on Portland was on the 12th when they were likely all immigrants.
http://portlandbirdobs.blogspot.co.uk/2017/03/12th-march.html
Another major arrival took place on the 16th when 200+ were logged at the Bill alone along with our earliest ever Willow Warbler to be trapped and singles of Ring Ouzel and Yellow Wagtail. Since then numbers have be somewhat lower, usually <50 birds per day.
Grahame
It's going to come down to differing migration strategies at a lower level than just all birds moving on broad fronts. (eg the Chiffchaffs coming up through France but still perhaps more easterly in their attempt to reach the UK?
Wonder where the blackreds came from, and where they are headed? Is the UK breeding population quite large these days?
Wonder where the blackreds came from, and where they are headed? Is the UK breeding population quite large these days?