May (So Far)
Sunday 26th May 2013 Grizzled Skipper, Breakheart Quarry, 19th May My first post of the month! Yet looking back in my notebook, despite the mixed weather, it actually hasn't been too bad. In the first week I caught up with some forest birds, including summer migrants, adding Redstart , Garden Warbler , Wood Warbler , Pied Flycatcher , Firecrest and Willow Tit to my year list. Another highlight earlier in the month was a dark-phase Arctic Skua on the evening high tide at Hock Ditch on 10th; apart from that and a distant Red-breasted Merganser the next morning, the May tides have been somewhat disappointing, at least at the weekends. I was pleased that Nightingales have returned to my local patch, and also a Garden Warbler , in a small wood near my BBS square, and two male Cuckoos are also frequently heard. Arctic Skua, Hock Ditch, 10th May I recently spent a delightful couple of nights in Rye, East Sussex, with Linda, and during the stay visited Rye Harbour Nature Res...