Migrant Madness!

With that headline, you would be forgiven for thinking you had just opened a copy of the daily mail, but no, I assure you this is the JCN roundup for this week.

Monday - Blackcaps and Blackthorn

I started my week at my spiritual home, Farlington Marshes just outside of Portsmouth, Hampshire Wildlife Trusts oldest reserve and somewhere I feel more at home than at home. In the area known as the bushes, there is a massive old Blackthorn, this I have come to call the ‘Blackcap bush’ because it seems to be a magnet to these dapper little Sylvia warblers each spring. The Blackthorn itself had transformed from the winter gulag of impenetrable thorns and for boding and was now a riot of white blossom, making it look positively cloud like at a distance and particularly fragrant the closer you got!

Sure enough, even from a distance I could see (and particularly hear) a gorgeous male Blackcap serenading the surrounding marsh from the upper echelons of the tree. Two female Blackcaps, known to my son as brown caps befitting that logical way of kids, were also flitting through the fortress of spines and blossom. I sank to my knees on a sunny patch of grass and let the silvery, fluting warble tumble over me, instantly washing the days stresses away from my conscious. The Blackcap was joined in his performance by a diminutive male Chiffchaff from lower in the tangle of flower adorned branches. Both songs are beautiful, but they are as different as you could hope to get. The simplicity of the 2 tone ‘Chiff Chaff’ onomatopoeia is in direct and stark contrast to the rich, expressive and varied lilt of the Blackcap and you can sure see why the Blackcap has been dubbed the ‘Northern Nightingale’. To me, there is little better than a gorgeous sunset, familiar surroundings and exquisite birdsong to start your week on the right path.

Tuesday - Galls and Glossy's

Oak Apple Gall

Tuesday evening, I ventured down a local canal path, the area is surrounded by flood plains with a gravel path that follows the canals progress towards the sea, a mile or so to the south. Oak Apple Galls caught my eye as I strolled, small apple like protuberances growing on the small oaks that flank the water. They are caused by chemicals injected by the larva of certain kinds of gall wasp in the family Cynipidae… incredible! Chiffs are still the most abundant migrant along this path at the moment, although I have recently caught up with a Garganey here for the 4th year running. The Glossy Ibis flock that has been around here for the last 3-4 years has swollen in ranks and there were 8, stunning burgundy birds that flew into the flooded area to feed. They probed the mud with their decurved beaks, loosely resembling leggy Curlews in jazzy outfits, great to see and fingers crossed they breed and colonise the area as other former Mediterranean species such as Cattle Egret and Great White Egret have.

The Moon

The canal path has a resident Barn Owl who is just a joy to watch, and I had hoped to catch a glimpse of him hunting while I was here, but that wasn’t on the agenda for the Owl this evening. That’s the joy of birding, there are no guarantees! As the weather has been glorious, the evening was warm and soon enough, there were both Soprano and Common Pipistrelle Bats tumbling and flitting over my head on their incessant hunt for flying insects, the moon, about ¾ full was so bright above even before the light had fully gone from the sun, it was ethereal hanging above me, so much so that I trained my telescope on that rather than the birds and snapped a few pics for posterity! I ended the walk with an enchanting encounter with a small herd of Roe Deer. A resplendent buck with very fresh antlers and 4 does that were dodging his frequent little attentions.

Wednesday - Reed all about it

Singing Sedge Warbler

Wednesday night I headed to Romsey and another Hampshire Wildlife Trust reserve, this time Fishlake Meadows and spring was alive and well here. My first Sedge and Reed Warblers of 2025 were in and already singing from the reeds, a Bittern was booming briefly too. Water Rails gave the whole place a slightly macabre aura, with their squealing calls reminiscent of a mammal in distress, this would not be so bad, but the sheer density of these birds at this reserve meant that it was the dominant sound around much of the site. The Swallows and Sand Martins over the pools added to the obvious arrivals, with Blackcap and Chiffchaff singing from the scrub patches too!

An elegant Great White Egret, strode through the shallow water, its dagger like bill seemingly leading the way for its body to follow in an almost reptilian fashion. Cuckoo flowers, Wood Anemone, Lesser Celandines and Great Horsetail, flanked the woody paths and the bright green, early growth of the Phragmites stood in stark contrast to last years straw yellow decay. My first ducklings of 2025 were also seen, a Gadwall pair with 5 yellow and black fluff balls, all with the zoomies it seems, enjoying chasing flying insects in little pulses of action before seeming to lose interest and sit bobbing on the water once again. The southern reserves certainly seem to be coming to life this week!

Thursday - Mindfulness midweek

Thursday night I had had enough at work in the day, it had been super full on and as such, I retreated into nature for the evening. Just me, my binoculars and a Surrey Heath! In this instance, one of my favourite places, Thursley Common. I am incredibly lucky where I am based near a town called Waterlooville 10 miles north of Portsmouth, in as much as, I have the incredible New Forest and surrounding area 40 minutes West of me, I have the Solent harbours 15 minutes South, West Sussex downs 25 minutes east and the Surrey heaths and Hills 25 minutes north! An incredible array of habitats and species with so much diversity of species.

Thursley common have some ancient woodland, some plantation and one of the last remaining lowland bogs in Surrey. It is home to Grass Snakes, Adder, Slow Worm, Common Lizard and Sand Lizard, but it is Dragonflies that Thursley is best known for. A staggering 26 species have been recorded here over the years. Dartford Warbler, Woodlark, Redstart, Hobby and Nightjar, also breed within Thursleys 350ha. If you fancy seeing some of this diversity up close with me, check out my ‘Dragons & Dartford’s of the Surrey Heaths’ Walk here!

Mindfulness moment at Thursley Common

I sat at the top of one of the ridges, looking west at the dying day, as Helios completed his chariot race across the sky for another day and just breathed. Focusing on feeling every molecule of air as it filled my lungs with the sweet coconutty, gorse infused air. This is one of my favourite mindfulness techniques and one that never fails to ground me in such incredible surroundings. Not another soul was on the reserve, just the low croaking from Dartford Warbler, deep in cover nearby and the descending, liquid song of a Willow Warbler from the pines 100 meters off. Bliss!

Saturday - Arrivals and specialities

Saturday and I got an additional weekend with the kids which was lush! We got out early on Saturday and headed straight for the New Forest, starting on the coast at Normandy lagoon, we were looking to see what migrants had come in overnight. Immediately as we crossed a field towards the gate to the seawall, a Common Whitethroat jumped up onto a Hawthorn and rattled out its shuttling, scratchy song! Our first of the year and a particularly poignant bird for me, as this was the species that kickstarted my mental health recovery using nature back in 2011. The first of the year is always so symbolic of my reawakening through natures reawakening in spring!

Out on the sea wall, we saw Common and Sandwich Terns, there were Dunlin in their summer plumage about to head off north for their breeding grounds, Black Tailed Godwits, the colour of a new build brick, probed the mud methodically looking for food, while the Avocets neurotically called and bobbed their heads.

We stopped at Acres down as we made our way back east, an incredible male Redstart put on a good display around his habitat as we watched him for ages! Firecrest tumbled through the clearings, chasing flies, before, last minute, righting themselves and landing on a branch. We found a Tree Pipit, singing from the middle of the open heather out on the down, when, echoing out around the amphitheatre of Acres, came the sound of unrivalled, unparalleled joy, the epitome of UK spring and unfortunately now, a Red listed species, the Cuckoo! We could see him, swaying in the top of a Willow the other side of the small valley, maybe 100 meters away, a long drumming brought us back to our senses after watching the Cuckoo for maybe 10 minutes. Lesser Spotted Woodpecker drumming nearby!!! We found him in the top of an old oak, drumming, preening and calling as he flew tree to tree, a true speciality of the forest and another red listed species.

We ended the day back at Fishlake Meadows enjoying more Sedge and Reed Warblers and some of the best views we have ever had of Cettis Warbler. These skulking mouse-like birds are almost invariably heard and not seen, so this was a real treat for all 3 of us to see this male, singing out in the open!         

Sunday - Homage to the maestro!

We met some friends at Pulborough Brooks on Sunday, to pay tribute to one of the most awe-inspiring musical maestros we get in the UK. Singing from dense stands of scrub, usually late evening and into the night, Common Nightingale can be a tricky species for some to catch up with. Sites are, necessarily closely guarded by locals for fear of others disturbing these vanishing virtuosos.

RSPB Pulborough Brooks is one of the safest places to see and hear these birds, without disturbing them. We had at least 3 singing males, right in the open two, affording amazing views of these shy birds! As if the Nightingales weren’t enough, we found a partial summer plumage Ruff, one of the locally breeding, adult White Tailed Eagles, our first Hobby and Common Sand of 2025 and my first Orange Tip Butterfly of the year as well!

The reserve was looking stunning, the weather was glorious, so we sat out with a cuppa and cake at the RSPBs café, while we chatted and the kids ran riot in the play area, a Glow-Worm dropped from the sky onto the table. Clearly dropped by a bird, it had landed next to my cup. So good to see these scarce beetles are at Pulborough, or at least near by. As we were leaving, the Primroses were attracting a number of Dark-edged Bee Flies, glorious little Bumble Bee mimics with their preposterous proboscis stuck out in front like a Hummingbirds bill.

Still to come...…

Its fair to say that good numbers of our spring migrants have reached our shores already, but these are just the pioneers. We have so many more still to come in and some exciting species to come yet too! Little Tern, Garden Warbler, Turtle Dove, Nightjar, Swift, Lesser Whitethroat, Honey Buzzards as well as the Skua movement off shore too! Its so inspiring to see our wildlife bursting into life around us, bird song building and colour erupting from the vegetation! It is such a great time of year and I urge you all to get out and enjoy it while it lasts!