That's is no doubt what the poor Swallows were thinking today! Didn't manage to get out until early evening today and there seemed to be a small influx of Swallows (around 20+), Chiffchaffs and the odd Willow Warbler. They all seemed pretty bedragled and fed up, no doubt after the battering from the wind and the rain of last night and the incessant hail stones of this evening! It seems our migrants are in for a tough time over the next few days. I heard there was a flock of 60+ Swallows earlier in the day on the Otter and at Bowling Green Marsh, there was a mixed flock of 200+ Swallows. with a few House Martin and Sand Martin all on the deck outside the hide today all looking pretty exhausted.
I expect the Lesser Kestrel in Suffolk isn't too impressed with the weather either and maybe I have become a fair weather twitcher these days too...........
I expect the Lesser Kestrel in Suffolk isn't too impressed with the weather either and maybe I have become a fair weather twitcher these days too...........
I feel sorry for any migrants that arrived in Scotland this week in all that snow. Spring proper is looming, but winter is not finished with us just yet!
ReplyDeleteHi Chris,
ReplyDeleteLots of hurundines here too on the Axe during the cold and windy weather of the previous few days. I saw none actually arriving from the south though, and counts from Portland, etc, have also been very low. So my theory is that most these birds were already in the UK, then this weather hit which moved them back south to the coast.