Goring and Canons Farm

I was joined by five others in the shelter at George V Avenue - the forecast looked promising but we didn't witness quite the movement we were hoping for. However, it was awesome to see the first little push of Bar-tailed Godwits go through offshore - 20 in all - along with three Whimbrel and my first two Common Sandpipers for the patch heading along the beach. Other personal seawatch highlights included an Arctic Skua, two Bonxies, 11 Shelducks, a Dark-bellied Brent Goose, three Red-throated Divers, 82 Gannets, a Little Egret, six Dunlin, two Mediterranean Gulls and a Fulmar.

I drove up to Surrey to lead a U3A bird walk at Canons Farm. As it turned out, this was timed perfectly as we found a few juicy migrants. Best of all (for me and the hard-core patchers at least!) was a singing Sedge Warbler by the farmyard, the first spring record at the site and rather incongruous! Four Wheatears in Tart's Field were later joined by a smart Whinchat though we all missed a male Ring Ouzel that Roy W had briefly. I counted 20 Swallows skimming through, plus four Whitethroats and a Blackcap. Five Lesser Black-backed Gulls flew over and a Pied Wagtail was noteworthy. Some 170 Linnets were mainly feeding in the fields south of Canons Farmhouse and a handful of Yellowhammers and Skylarks were scattered around. It really felt quite birdy.

Whinchat at Canons Farm