Date: 14th March 2024
Time: from 8:30 a.m.
Weather: dry, bright, light wind, 10°C to 12°C
This morning, I had a full walk around the site including the northern section of the site, the cemetery and the wooded area in the south of the site on my way home.
I started my walk with a lot of hope but far less expectation of hearing and seeing my first Chiffchaff of the year at the site. However, I was rewarded when I eventually heard a male Chiffchaff briefly singing twice in the wooded area at the eastern end of the cemetery. Unfortunately, it was rather distant so I was unable to locate it and actually see it.
Last year, my first record of Chiffchaff was on 20th March 2023 and in 2022, apart from an obvious over-wintering individual on 17th January 2022, my first record was on 14th March 2022.
My last visit to the site was on 8th March 2024 so this morning’s Chiffchaff may have arrived any time after that.
To me, the sound of this tiny Phylloscopus leaf warbler always marks the start of spring, as much as the other arriving spring and summer migrants are a joy to welcome back.
Hopefully, in the coming weeks, I will get to see and photograph the local Chiffchaffs.
In addition to Chiffchaff, I was also able to record a further species to add to my 2024 bird site list: Jackdaw (a single calling bird flying over the north of the site)
Whilst the singing male Chiffchaff marked the return of spring, the local Redwings clearly hadn’t received the memo! I saw 6 birds flying together in a small flock in the northern section of the site.
The other highlights during my visit were Mallard (2 birds flying over the northern section of the site which evidently did not to choose to land on one of the ponds), Great Spotted Woodpecker (a single excitedly calling bird seen in the wooded area at the eastern end of the cemetery), Green Woodpecker (a single calling bird again heard in the wooded area at the eastern end of the cemetery) and Greenfinch (a calling but unseen bird in the horse paddock in the northern section of the site).
Species recorded during this visit were as follows (heard only records in italics):
Chiffchaff
Site totals for 2024 to date (2023 totals in brackets):
Birds = 24 (47)
Total species list for the site:
Birds = 65
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