Fall!

With the overnight wind and rain clearing to leave a calm, overcast dawn, I nipped into Hackney Marshes before work and it was soon evident that an arrival of migrants had occurred. As I walked along the cycle path beside the racecourse almost every bush had a warbler in it; I barely covered the western half of the reserve yet recorded 20+ Chiffchaffs (some territorial birds), 7+ Willow Warblers, 6 phyllosc sp, 12+ Blackcaps and a Goldcrest. The racecourse produced the first two patch Wheatears of the year plus a mixed flock of seven Swallows and nine Sand Martins, and on the rising tide at Passage House three Whimbrel and seven Common Sandpipers suggested spring wader passage is now properly underway.