First Wheatears

A message from Clive mid afternoon yesterday alerted me to the presence of our first two Wheatear of the year on Colyford Common. Yeah finally some spring migrants - I really do not know how we've missed out on all the early hirundine action here!  

I got to Colyford Common just before 5pm, and was greeted by the soul-lifting sight of three gorgeous male Wheatears. Here's one of them...

These early ones are always so strikingly small, dumpy and pale compared to the tall orange breasted Greenland/Iceland birds that move through from mid April. Over the course of a year I'm sure we actually see many more of the larger brighter birds than these small presumably UK breeding birds.

It was clearly a fairly good migration day yesterday, as there were also a few new Chiffchaffs dotted around the Marshes. And today Ian Mc has seen our first Sand Martin of the year, so hopefully this means the flood gates have opened...