Spring is here!

On the 3rd April, my first two Swallows of the year flew through Hilfield in amidst some impressive Meadow Pipit and Pied Wagtail passage. Besides the many calling Chiffchaffs, however, no other Spring migrants have reached here quite yet, but it shouldn't be too long before they do.

This morning, I decided to take a break from my revision to go and search for some Spring birds. I started at Portland Harbour, where I found my first Sandwich Tern of the year, along with numerous Red-breasted Mergansers and Great Crested Grebes, but very little else.

I then headed to Portland Bill. There was a great deal of activity in the Observatory garden, with numerous Chiffchaffs and Willow Warblers clearly having arrived, as well as lots of Linnets, Meadow Pipits and Goldfinches overhead. I also saw my first Blackcaps of the year- the female that has spent the entire winter, along with a freshly-arrived male.

This female Blackcap has been eating apples at Portland Bird Observatory since November.

There was also a decent passage of Hirundines, which was very pleasing to witness, with decent numbers of Swallows and Sand Martins (but sadly no House Martins) passing through.

After a long wait, I finally caught a glimpse of a Firecrest, Britain's smallest bird, flitting about the garden, only my second sighting of the species in Britain. I soon saw another, along with two Goldcrests. These really are fantastic birds.

A brief sea-watch at the Bill yielded no more than a decent number of Gannets, Fulmars, Kittiwakes, Razorbills and Guillemots.

I then headed to Abbotsbury Swannery, where I found the Black-winged Stilt that was found two days ago on the Meadow Pool (the same pool on which I saw a Green-winged Teal in March). It was very distant, but as always an absolute pleasure to see.

Not the best picture, but a distant photo of the Black-winged Stilt at Abbotsbury. Hopefully 2015 will be as good for the species in Britain as last year was!

I was pleased to finally see the Long-tailed Ducks here as well. It's taken me a very long time to see them at the Swannery this winter! Unfortunately, there was no sign of the earlier-reported Garganey pair, but hopefully I will see some of this great duck species later on in the summer on the Somerset Levels.

Meanwhile, I am heading off to the Highlands next week for the first time ever. I can't wait to see what wildlife I can find up there!