April was characterised by fine weather and more warblers arriving than in recent years. However Swallows didn’t replicate this and numbers still seemed generally low or at best average by the month end.
Spring surveys started on the 1st on with the Strawberry Line where singing Wrens (19), Robins (18) and Chiffchaffs (14) were abundant. A Willow Warbler was probably a passage bird, a Swallow and three other hirundines too high to identify flew over. There were seven Cetti’s Warblers singing by the line with others heard more distantly. A Kestrel was observed to capture prey on our Congresbury Moor Reserve.
Two days later a Red Kite was reported over Cadbury Farm and on the 4th a Cetti’s Warbler was singing in the Network Rail works compound by Yatton station. They are spreading out from their more traditional reed bed habitats to scrub. Also on the 4th another Willow Warbler was singing in Stowell’s premises, audible from Wemberham Lane with yet another Cetti’s Warbler for company.
The unseasonably warm weather on the 7th and 8th brought incoming migrants. Two Reed Warblers and a Whitethroat were at the Strawberry Line/Congresbury Moor on the 8th, while on the same day a remarkable seven warbler species were singing at Kingston Seymour sea wall, with a Reed Warbler, four Whitethroats and a Lesser Whitethroat being notable. These were somewhat eclipsed by a very early Cuckoo calling at Kenn. Temperature returned to normal on the 9th but a singing Grasshopper Warbler on the Strawberry Line, Yatton was notable. It couldn’t be relocated the next day so had presumably moved on.
The morning of the 11th was bright but cool and breezy. Three Reed Warblers and two Willow Warbler were heard on the Strawberry Line. The Cetti’s Warbler that was in the Network Rail compound earlier was singing from the Yatton Junction Reserve near to the Mendip Road houses. After a couple of windy days the 13th dawned sunny and calm and more migrants arrived overnight.
A visit to the Strawberry Line and Congresbury Moor yielded a Sedge Warbler, probably fresh in overnight, five Whitethroats, four Reed Warblers and three Willow Warblers but the most surprising was a ( resident) Kingfisher which I heard whistle as it shot along the ditch by the line. But the most charming was a pair of Mallard with 12 ducklings on the river.
We conducted the second Strawberry Line survey on the 16th. We heard no less than ten Cetti’s Warblers singing on the Line and a couple more in the distance. But the remarkable record was of three Grasshopper Warblers reeling (= singing), two from our Footmead Reserve. We also found what may be an old Harvest mouse nest by the line.
By the 20th all of our regular migrant warbler species had arrived and Grasshopper Warblers were singing at two sites in Yatton and another in Congresbury. Star bird was a fine male Marsh Harrier circling on warm thermals over Congresbury Moor. The next day two Whinchats were on the new Congresbury Moor Reserve and a Common Sandpiper was on the river viewed from Congresbury bridge. Two Swifts were seen briefly over North End, Yatton.
Two Grasshopper Warblers were still singing audible from the Strawberry Line as was a Lesser Whitethroat on the 23rd. Good numbers of Whitethroats were singing as were more Sedge Warblers than in recent years. Cadbury Hill produced a pair of Marsh Tits, a Nuthatch and two Bullfinches.The month ended with a Swift over Mendip Road, Yatton on the 29th and a warbler fest on the Congresbury Moor survey the following day, 49 recorded of seven species. Later several Buzzards and a Red Kite attended grass cutting operations at Wemberham Lane.
Your records and photos are always very welcome to [email protected]. Thanks to all our contributors this month.
