Following the mini-heatwave at the end of March came the long freeze in April. Daytime temperatures dropped by about 12C between 31 March and 1 April and, by the 5th, were in single figures with overnight frosts and strong northerly winds. Bird migration predictably dropped, with birds stuck in Continental Europe waiting for the opportunity to fly further north. Wood anemones were noticeable as I did a couple of Easter walks with my partner in South Hertfordshire, making me wonder where the nearest woodland was to Royston that harbours this species - I haven't seen it on any of my local walks.
Wood Anemones and Lesser Celandine, near Little Berkhamsted, Herts. 5 April
On the 9th I visited Breckland, achieving my main objective of seeing lesser spotted woodpecker at a well-watched site near Santon Downham. Hundreds of crossbills and lesser redpolls (the latter a year tick because of the pandemic lockdown) were very noticeable and, at one point, some crossbills came down into a willow tree close to the path - allowing very good views. Unfortunately it wasn't possible to isolate the birds for photography without twigs and branches getting in the way: my best effort is shown below.
Male Crossbill, Santon Downham, 9 April
My partner loves walking by the coast, so on the 11th I took her to Thornham, from where we walked along the coastal path to Holme and back. Thornham Harbour is an excellent venue for wader photography and I was able, without any trouble, to get decent images of six of the twelve wader species that we saw. The composite image below shows these six species: I will leave it to the reader to identify the waders!
Images of six wader species photographed at Thornham Harbour on 11 April
My first long trip of the year came on the 14th, when I visited my county of birth to enjoy watching and photographing the seabird colonies between Flamborough Head (North Landing) and RSPB Bempton Cliffs. The weather was cold (of course) but sunny. As expected, thousands of gannets were starting to nest (gannets start to return to Bempton from late January onwards!). Perhaps more unexpectedly, hundreds of puffins had already returned. However, the biggest surprise was to see huge numbers of razorbills on the cliffs and in the water - they far outnumbered guillemots, both on land and on the sea. There had been a report of 88,000 razorbills passing Flamborough Head in a single day a few days beforehand: from the numbers seen I reckon a good proportion of those birds had stayed in the area! Migrant land birds were thin on the ground in unfavourable conditions, no short-eared owls were seen (although they were reported before and after on the day of my visit) but tree sparrows made, as ever, obliging photographic subjects.
Gannet in flight at RSPB Bempton Cliffs, 14 April
Razorbill Dance! Flamborough Head, 14 April
Puffin, North Landing (Flamborough Head), 14 April
More local bird watching produced some dividends, particularly on the 21st when, encouraged by reports of a big passage of Arctic terns, I visited the Tring reservoirs. Waders at Tringford (where the water levels were low, resulting in plenty of exposed mud) included at least five little ringed plovers and a pair of redshanks. I saw my first reed warbler of the year at Marsworth. Two male mandarin ducks here in perfect breeding plumage provided an irresistible attraction for my camera, but most of the action was at Startops End, where I eventually located a handful of Arctic terns amongst large numbers of common terns. Although distant, the longer tail streamers, short blood-red bills and neat dark lines along the trailing edges of the undersides of the wings enabled me to separate out the Arctic terns. Just as I had convinced myself that I was seeing Arctic terns an adult (or near adult) little gull appeared, typically feeding in flight, tern-like, on the surface of the water, to complete a satisfying visit.
'Record Shot' of Arctic Tern, Startops End Reservoir, 21 April
Adult Little Gull, Startops End Reservoir, 21 April
Male Mandarin Duck, Marsworth Reservoir, 21 April
On the 23rd I visited the Holkham Estate as a 'Naturetrek' client on a one day £50 wildlife trip (see the October 2020 blog for my first taste of one of these trips), with Mike Crewe as the leader. Between us we recorded almost 90 bird species, including my first whimbrels and spoonbills of the year, and Mike educated us on the five different varieties of pine trees that occur in the area.
With the news that 'Colin the Cuckoo' was back at Thursley Common (Surrey) for an 8th successive spring I decided that another photographic visit would be in order on the 27th (one of the few remotely warm days of this ridiculously cold spring). Colin made a couple of brief visits to the feeding station in the Parish Field during the 75 minutes that I was there. Although I failed to get the variety of photos of Colin that I had hoped for, several other interesting birds posed for me at the feeding station including redstart, woodlark and a very obliging mistle thrush. Elsewhere, I noted several Dartford warblers and a couple of hobbies. Little buntings were still being reported at 'Bunting Bushes', but a brief visit there failed to reveal any and I didn't see or hear any tree pipits - possibly they had yet to arrive from Africa.
'Colin the Cuckoo', Thursley Common, 27 April
Mistle Thrush, Thursley Common, 27 April
Male Common Redstart, Thursley Common, 27 April
The following day I visited Broom Gravel Pits (near Biggleswade, Beds.) on a reconnaissance trip for a future RSPB visit. Greenshank, dunlin and common sandpiper (not seen by me) were present, as were more Arctic terns (I suspect that their excellent passage through our region has been boosted by the prevailing easterly and north-easterly winds pushing them further west than usual). I also saw my first swifts and house martins of the year here, boosting my year list to a respectable (considering the circumstances) 174 species by the end of the month.
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