2020 Spring Migrant first arrival dates at Feathers, Salehurst, East Sussex
Swallow:n/a(2019: 10th April)
House Martin:n/a(2019: 10th May)
Swift: 28th April(2019: 11th May)
Chiffchaff: 31st March (2019: 1st April)
Blackcap: 31st March (2019: 13th April)
Whitethroat: n/a(2019: 19th April)
Cuckoo: 9th April(2019: 20th April)
Summer update: I'll no longer be recording the first arrivals of swallows and house martins, as both species have gone from regular breeding species to merely passage migrants. We have seen both species here this year flying over, but it's rather upsetting to know that neither now call this place home. The whitethroat is also a bit tricky as it's seen and heard down by the river rother, so we can't record it's first arrival date accurately.
Continuing on from July's heatwave, we had a mostly fine August and September, which are typically two of the quietest months of the year for activity on the feeders. October is often when things pick up, but so far we're still experiencing temperatures in the high teens to low twenties, so only on an 'off' day are we seeing lots of birds using the feeders. From tomorrow onwards the forecast is back to average for the time of year (around 15°) with more rain than we've seen in some time, so I expect the food to start going down more rapidly.
While we expect this downturn on the feeders during Autumn, it normally coincides with an increase in summer migrants passing through on their way south, but this year we've had little more than a few visiting chiffchaffs. We spotted our first redwing on Saturday 6th, yet still this week we have seen a solitary swallow and around 10 house martins passing over. Mistle thrush activity has increased, buzzards (up to 6) have been enjoying the warm weather, sparrowhawks have been dropping by regularly and the kestrels are getting plenty of stick from the local corvid population as always. I've also seen and heard skylarks flying over on a few occassions in the last week. Coal tits are back in higher numbers now, as they often are at this time of year, taking the black sunflowers away to cache for the winter. Long-tailed tits have been passing through, but with plenty of natural food still around, they're not often coming down to the feeders just yet. We had hardly seen pied wagtails in the summer, and then two weeks ago a couple turned up and the number built throughout the week up to a maximum count of over 10. Fleeting glimpses of grey wagtails leave a lot to be desired. Although there doesn't seem to be a bumper crop of acorns, a few jays have been dropping in to the oak tree in the car park for a bite to eat. Finally, our tame pheasant, who looked a right mess at the start, now looks a million dollars.
Whereas April is normally one of the quietest months of the year for garden birds, the cold weather meant activity remained seemingly almost as high as any of the winter months. Many parts of the country had decent amounts of snow late on in the month, with a few snow showers here in East Sussex. That's not to say we didn't have a few fine days, but with temperatures generally not reaching much above 10°, with even some frosty nights, the birds remained active throughout April.
Snow at Feathers, 26/04/16
Just over a week after the snow, temperatures soared to above 20°, as much as 26 at times, bringing the expected drop off in feeder activity. None-the-less, there's still much to see and watch with most of the summer migrants back now. Here's a short video of the Cuckoo down by the river on the 14th April:
The Swifts arrived back on the 28th April, 10 days earlier than 2015s first arrival, with around 8 now resident.
House Martin numbers have been very disappointing, with the first seen here on the 4th May but still no sign of them looking to nest on the farm house this year.
One female Lesser Redpoll was in the Nature Area late in April:
The resident Buzzards put on a good show on the 5th May and our first Hobby of the year came over on the 7th:
Binocular Sales have been very good for us since before Christmas, the addition of Swarovski and Vortex in the past 6 months certainly helping. I have recently improved the shopping cart system, allowing for the different postage options and voucher codes. This month we are offering £10 off orders over £200 with voucher code MAY10 and £20 off orders over £400 with MAY20.
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Between Christmas and the New Year, Allan photographed a Firecrest outside the shop, taking our list to 94 species. It was the only new species added in 2015, and one we always thought we should have on there, but a very welcome addition none-the-less!
December and early January were very wet, though we have been lucky in the south east considering the floods elsewhere in the country. The weather looks to be settling down next week as the colder weather draws in, with temperatures set to plummet to around 5° and freezing at night. The birds seem to be anticipating it as the feeders in our Nature Area have become very busy, with countless amounts of Blue Tits feeding. 4 Siskins arrived on Tuesday and have been visiting on and off since, hopefully they will stay. Allan got a photo of a female today and though I haven't managed to photograph them yet, the other birds certainly kept me busy until the male Sparrowhawk came in.
With all the fields flooded, I chanced a quick trip down Redlands lane to see if anything unusual was about. A Little Egret picked up as I drove past, landing again to allow me a few distant pics from the car.
Good numbers of House Martins were lingering on, though no sightings today so at the minute the last record is down for the 9th October. Today was our first sighting of a Siskin in the Nature Area this year, however! Adger spent an hour or so in the hide and photographed a female, a nice surprise, shame neither Allan or I have seen one here yet. The day started well with a pair of Ravens cronking overhead and ended even better as a Red Kite passed over the hide :)
