Swallow!

My first Swallow of Spring flew over the garden at Hilfield this afternoon- the first I have ever had here in March. On top of that, I also saw my earliest ever Hilfield Blackcap on the 30th. What a Spring this has been so far!

Redstart in the garden!

Common Redstart, Hilfield, 29/3/14 

It was a really fantastic surprise to find a male Common Redstart in the garden this morning. A truly stunning bird to have here and a rather scarce one, particularly as late March is rather early for this species which winters in Sub-Saharan Africa to arrive in Britain. I hope it stays around for a while!

There are good numbers of Chiffchaffs singing in the garden right now, and there have been several Meadow Pipits flying over- Spring is certainly well and truly on its way. Hopefully Swallows will be coming soon....

Portland Bill 18th March

With my AS level exams to look forward to this summer, I have been unable to escape out for a morning's birding since returning from Morocco in January, until this morning, when we headed down to Portland. 

We weren't expecting to find anything of particular interest, but I fancied seeing my first spring migrants of the year and at Portland, one always feels that there is a great chance of finding something special.

The highlight of the morning was seeing my first ever Iceland Gull. A second year bird (presumably the one which has been in the Weymouth-Portland area for much of the winter) flew past just offshore. This stunningly-white Arctic species has arrived in Dorset in good numbers this year and it was great to find one for myself. A Sandwich Tern, technically my first summer migrant of the year, also passed the Bill, along with large numbers of the more regularly-occuring gulls, Guillemots and Fulmars.

Large numbers of Meadow Pipits and alba Wagtails were coming in off the sea, and many of both species were around on land. It took some time to find a Wheatear, but then we came across four (three males and a female) near the military compound.

It is certainly a sign of how busy I have been this year that my first birding outing has yielded my first summer migrants. 

Dozens of singing Skylarks added to this sense of spring, while seeing a Raven and several Kestrels; as well as Fulmars, Shags and Guillemots returning to their nests on the cliffs, all combined to create a rather idyllic scene. 

Meanwhile, spring has reached Hilfield, with the first Chiffchaffs of the year in song on the 18th, one of which I saw well. All is looking up after an extremely long and arduous winter.