Ventusky was forecasting light rain pre-dawn for this morning, I woke at 5am and looked outside, dry as a bone but the rain did start with the dawn. This band of rain came in from the North West and met the coast with very light WNW wind and resulted in the first ‘decent’ day for grounded migrants so far this spring here, whilst other sites in Kent also did well.
21 Willow Warblers counted between the end of my street and Light house Down. 3 Singing Lesser Whitethroats, excellent numbers of Common Whitethroats, Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps while c40 Swallows, 4 House Martins and a Sand Martin moved North, 12 Yellow Wagtails, 3 White Wagtails were counted, 3 Red Kites, 8 Med Gulls and the bird of the day for me was a female Pied Flycatcher at the North end of Top wood, my first in spring here.
During the walk back home I’d noticed the winds switching to the SSE despite the forecast of light NW and spent an hour looking South from my ‘Raptors in off’ spot over the Harbour and before long I picked up 3 White Storks powering in at 13.30.
Most likely introduction birds but seeing them arrive is a buzz.
PERDIX BIRDER 