Over the Christmas period, quite a few interesting species have been turning up. Smew (mostly 'redheads') have now been recorded in many counties up and down the country, with top Christmas Day counts of 4 in Northamptonshire and 3 in Hertfordshire. Since then, 7 birds together in Kent was notable (on the 27th). Also of interest have been a few Great Northern Divers off the south and east coasts.

Winter is now definitely here, with Waxwings and Snow Buntings all over the place. What seem to be missing are Shore Larks, so keep an eye out for these when visiting the coast. Despite the cold though, a few summer migrants are still hanging on! Just yesterday, there were reports of 2 Sandwich Terns (Hampshire), Little Stint (Rutland), Bluethroat (still at Loch of Strathbeg), Ring Ouzel (Durham), Redstart (London) and Willow Warbler (with 4 Chiffchaffs and a Siberian Chiffchaff in Worcestershire). So, you never know what you might see! If do see any wintering warblers, make sure you fill out the extra details here for this new BTO project.

With the forecast of a few days of cold and frosty weather it's a good time to get out and look for Water Rail that will be pushed out to the edges of lakes to feed. Over the last couple of days we have received Water Rail records from Leicestershire, Cheshire, Devon, Greater London and Lancashire. We have also received valuable records of Jack Snipe from Herefordshire and West Midlands.

Owls will also be out making maximum use of the short daylight hours - watch out for Short-eared Owls hunting in the mid-afternoon.

Greenshank have been recorded in Essex on the 23rd and Spotted Redshank in Norfolk (22nd) and Isle of Wight (23rd).

Thanks for all your records over the last few days. There have been some interesting species recorded and some excellent counts made. On the 20th a Firecrest was seen in Somerset and another was seen at a different site in Somerset on 22nd. A Hawfinch was seen in Gloucestershire and a Short-eared Owl was in Leicestershire. Smew were recorded in Cambridgeshire, Gloucestershire and North Lincolnshire.

On the 21st a Common Sandpiper and Short-eared Owl was in Cambridgeshire. A Glaucous Gull was seen in Lancashire - few 'white-winged' gulls have been seen this winter. In Hertfordshire a Smew was recorded, with another in Fife on the 22nd.

Blackcaps have been featuring regularly in the daily list of submissions with records over the last few days coming from Greater London, Brighton & Hove, Bristol, Essex, Cambridgeshire, Oxfordshire, Peterborough, Luton, Highland, South Ayrshire, Fife and Antrim. If you are lucky enough to see a Blackcap remember to fill in the extra information required in the comments box for the Wintering Warbler Survey.

There have also been some interesting sightings of waders including Common Sandpipers in Devon (11th) and Cambridgeshire (12th), Greenshank in Devon, Cornwall, Dublin and Highland (11th) and Fife and Hertfordshire (12th). Jack Snipe have been seen in Cambridgeshire, Greater Manchester, Hertfordshire and Tyne & Wear. Lapwings and Golden Plovers continue to be recorded in good numbers including a flock of 1000 Lapwing in East Sussex.

Few Smew have been reported so far this winter so sightings in Fife, Kent and Cambridgeshire are notable.

A Black Redstart was seen in Somerset on the 11th, but incredibly a male Redstart was found at Wormwood Scrubs (Greater London) earlier in the week.

There has been a small influx of Tundra Bean Geese (Anser fabalis rossicus) into eastern and southern England. These can be distinguished with care from Taiga Bean Geese (Anser fabalis fabilis) which tend to have less black on the bill and longer necks. These are two forms of the same species - Bean Goose. In most years we have a small wintering population of Taiga Bean Geese in the Yare Valley in Norfolk and the Avon Valley between Falkirk and Cumbernauld. The Tundra Bean Geese (rossicus) population breeds in northern Siberia and the Taiga Bean Geese (fabalis) breeds across a zone extending from northern Fennoscandia, across north Russia to Siberian lowlands east of the Ural Mountains.

Good numbers of Waxwings have been reported by BirdTrack recorders over the last few days including 130 in Edinburgh and 150 in Fife (9 December), 150 in Renfrewshire, 45 in Angus and 45 in Durham (8 December) and 100 Waxwing in Derbyshire (6 December).

Other good counts include 530 Ruddy Duck and two Smew in Surrey (9 December), five Spoonbill in Devon (8 December), 28 Goosander in Rutland and 17 in South Yorkshire (7 December). An excellent count of 120 Long-tailed Duck was made in Moray.

Thanks for all your records over the last few days. Large flocks of Waxwings continue to be seen in the north and east of Britain and with smaller numbers in Ireland.

On 29th November 13 Mandarin were seen at a site in Derbyshire and one was in Wokingham. An unseasonal Barred Warbler was in Lincolnshire again on the 28th. There was a Black Redstart in Cornwall on the 28th and one in Hampshire on the 27th. Fieldfares were seen in good numbers in Hertfordshire (400), Newport (200), Derbyshire (200) and East Riding of Yorkshire (200).

Snow Buntings and Shorelarks have been recorded most days from the east coast with 179 Snow Bunting in Norfolk on the 27th.

Waxwings continue to dominate the bird news at the moment, with large flocks still present in Scotland and along the eastern side of Britain. A flock of 100 were in Durham on the 24th.

Also on the 24th, 64 Snow Buntings were in Tyne & Wear and there were four Lapland Bunting in Kent. The long staying Great Grey Shrike was still on Cannock Chase in Staffordshire, together with two Dartford Warblers. A flock of 1000 Golden Plover were seen in Kent - please continue to send in your sightings of Golden Plover and Lapwing flocks. More unusually, a Surf Scoter was seen off the Isles of Scilly.

With a cold spell of weather on the way it will be interesting to see how our birds behave. Some gardens have been relatively quiet over the last few months - will more birds push in?

The most significant bird movements over the last few days involves the Little Auk. Northerly winds over the weekend produced some excellent seawatching in the North East with 2933 Little Auks logged on 13th and 4500 on the 14th (Tyne & Wear). Interestingly, few were recorded further south.

On the 12th there were Blackcaps in Dorset, Norfolk and Shetland. A late Common Tern was in South Ayrshire, a Jack Snipe in North Yorkshire and a Yellow-browed Warbler in Devon.

On the 13th there was a House Martin in Galway - perhaps this one will overwinter? A Firecrest was seen in Hampshire and Black Redstart on the Isle of Wight. There have been few 'white-winged' gulls reported so far this year so a Glaucous Gull in Tyne & Wear and an Iceland Gull in North Yorkshire are notable.

Greenshanks were seen in Cornwall, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight on the 14th - typical locations for the time of year. A late Sand Martin was also seen on the 14th in Hampshire, along with two Swallows in Greater Manchester. A count of 40 Brambling was made in Suffolk on the 15th.

Waxwings continue to be seen in Scotland, northern England and East Anglia, with few records in central England yet. A flock of 400 were seen in North Ayrshire on the 11th.

A count of 1000 Golden Plover in Redcar & Cleveland on 9 November is noteworthy, as it 1000 Lapwing in Cambridgeshire on the same day. In Devon, a flock of 2000 Golden Plover was recorded on the 10th. Sixty Snow Bunting were at a site in Highland on the 9th and 12 Chough were on the Isle of Man.

Swallows are still seen daily with records in Devon, East Sussex and Greater Manchester over the last few days. Some good counts of Great Crested Grebe have also come in with 350 at a site in Rutland and 250 at a site in Bath & NE Somerset.

Black Redstarts are now thin on the ground with records in Devon and Tipperary (10th) and Merseyside (11th) being notable.

Remarkably, a Grey-cheeked Thrush (a small North American thrush) was trapped and ringed by BTO staff at a small scrub site just north of Thetford on the 10th November. This is the first record for Norfolk and just the second for the east coast. Imagine how surprised the two ringers were to find it in the net!

It's been a fairly busy weekend again with good numbers of thrushes recorded, particularly in the north. Waxwing continue to be seen along the east coast, with more being reported in Norfolk over the weekend.

A few summer visitors continue to linger with 10 House Martins in Cornwall and two Swallows in Bournemouth on the 6th. A late Black Tern was in Oxfordshire on the 7th. An excellent count of 234 Skylark in Cornwall was notable - we are particularly keen to gather counts of species like Skylark, Linnet and Tree Sparrow. Also of note on the 6th were five Spoonbill in Devon and a Little stint in Buckinghamshire.

On the 7th, a Black Redstart was seen in Cornwall - relatively few have been recorded in recent weeks. A Whimbrel was also seen in Cornwall where it is most likely to be wintering. A flock of c1000 Fieldfare was recorded in North Yorkshire. Yesterday, Blackcaps were recorded in Bath & Somerset, Cornwall, Hampshire, Norfolk, Redcar & Cleveland and Somerset.

We have also received a few counts of Ring-necked Parakeet over the weekend - 20 in Greater London, 2 in Kent and 2 in South Yorkshire.

On 1 November there was an excellent count of 20 Long-tailed Duck at a site in Moray. Elsewhere there were Swallows on the Isle of Wight and in Suffolk and Blackcaps on the Isle of Man and in Somerset. Good counts of Fieldfare were made in Bedfordshire (130), East Riding of Yorkshire (143) and West Yorkshire (250). A Little Auk was off the Isle of Man - very few have been reported so far this year. A Pied Flycatcher also on the Isle of Man was particularly late.

Yesterday, 2 November, there was a Firecrest in Northamptonshire and a Snow Bunting in Devon. Waxwings continue to arrive in force. News from Sweden suggests it was a really good breeding season for them there.

Waxwings continue to be reported around the country, with more reports from East Anglia over the last two days. There were flocks of 90 and 60 in different parts of Highland.

A Great Grey Shrike was seen in Kent yesterday. Regular returning birds are starting to appear at traditional sites such as Cannock Chase, Thetford Forest and the New Forest. Spotted Redshanks were seen yesterday on the Isle of Wight and in South Yorkshire. Also on the Isle of Wight was a Common Tern.

A late Whimbrel was seen in South Gloucestershire - each year small numbers do over-winter, particularly in the south-west.

It's been a fairly busy weekend for birds (and birdwatchers) with fine weather across most of Britain and Ireland and a good scattering of migrants. Winter visitors continue to arrive with geese, swans and thrushes arriving. There were some exceptional counts of Redwing and Fieldfare in Aberdeenshire with c100,000 Fieldfare counted on the 29 and 31 October on visible migration!

On Friday 29th October there were still 6 Swallows in Co. Wicklow. A Snow Bunting in Oxfordshire is an unusual location for this species. Water Pipits was also recorded in Oxfordshire and a Pallas's Warbler was seen in Brighton & Hove.

On Saturday 30th October there were a few Black Redstarts, mainly on the south and east coast, with a small number of Blackcap and Chiffchaff recorded. Swallows were seen in Dorset (4) and Kent (2) whilst House Martins were recorded in Cornwall. Common Tern were seen in Hampshire and Kent and Grey Phalaropes were in Oxfordshire, Kent and Cornwall. A Garden Warbler in Dorset is an excellent record for the time of year. There was a good scattering of Ring Ouzel too, with four at one site in Norfolk alone! Waxwing numbers continue to build up with large gatherings in the Western Isles (over 1000 at one site on Lewis!!!) and the south west.

On Sunday 3st October there was a Garganey in Kent, Lapland Buntings in Kent and Norfolk and counts of 200 Waxwing in Aberdeenshire and Highland.

A Masked Shrike, the first record for Britain, was discovered in a garden in Fife and seen by large numbers of twitchers on Sunday and Monday. Masked Shrikes are usually found in a restricted band in the eastern Mediterranean and Middle East.

Falls of thrushes on the east coast continue with 3000 Redwing counted at a site in Tyne & Wear yesterday. Flocks of Fieldfare include 400 in North Yorkshire, 130 in Cumbria and 100 in Tyne & Wear. A count of 16 Woodcock at a site in Tyne & Wear is impressive - these are most likely to be newly-arrived migrants. Elsewhere there were two House Martins in West Sussex and a Whimbrel in Cornwall.

The influx of Waxwing is interesting in that it has a west coast bias, with many records in the Western Isles and smaller numbers in Ireland and the South West. It will be interesting to watch their movements on BirdTrack animated maps.

As well as migrants, BirdTrack is particularly interested in mapping the distribution of species and collecting information on numbers, so a count of 21 Great Crested Grebe at a site in Wiltshire is exactly the kind of record we are keen to receive.

Many Black Redstarts have arrived in the South West over the last couple of days, with double-figure numbers in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. There have also been a couple of amazing 'falls' of Chiffchaff in the west with 200 on the Isles of Scilly and 500 at Mizen Head in Co. Cork.

Yesterday, Redwing and Fieldfare continued to be recorded in good numbers and the largest flock of Fieldfares was 180 in Derbyshire. Last night there was a good passage of Redwing over BTO in Thetford between 2100 and 2300hrs at least. Did you hear any in your area?

There was a Firecrest in East Sussex, a late Wheatear in Cheshire and Waxwings in Aberdeen (30), Highland (2) and the Western Isles (10). A good count of Golden Plover (520) was made in Fife, and also in the same region was a Jack Snipe and a Long-tailed Duck.

Regular BirdTrack contributor, Brian Unwin, submitted a record of a Red-eyed Vireo yesterday from his local patch. This is an excellent record for the east coast - well done Brian!

On the 25 October Chiffchaffs were recorded in Cornwall, East Sussex, Hertfordshire, Tyne & Wear and Wiltshire. We will shortly be launching a special project on warblers wintering in Britain so please continue to send in your records of all warbler species seen. House Martins continue to be seen in Norfolk, Suffolk and West Sussex and there was a Ring Ouzel in Surrey. Thrushes continue to arrive and flock sizes are building up, particularly for Fieldfare with 100 in Tyne & Wear, 200 in Staffordshire, 70 in Derbyshire and 50 in Angus. The larges Redwing flock was 60 on the Western Isles.

Yesterday (26 October), there was a Swallow and two Sandwich Terns on the Isle of Wight and two House Martins in Buckinghamshire. Whooper Swans were recorded in Fife and the Western Isles. A Dartford Warbler in Bedfordshire is an excellent record! Good numbers of Golden Plover are now being recorded including 500 in South Yorkshire, 355 on Isle of Wight, 250 in Suffolk and 220 in Buckinghamshire.

For rare bird enthusiasts, an Ovenbird has appeared on the Isles of Scilly. This is a sought-after rarity (actually a warbler) from North America.

Redwings and Fieldfares continue to arrive in small numbers. The largest flocks of Redwing yesterday were 40 in Highland and 40 in Derbyshire whilst there were 260 Fieldfare in Renfrewshire, 59 in South Yorkshire and 50 in Leicestershire. Waxwings have also arrived over the last week with small numbers seen in Scotland and along the east coast. One even made it to the Isles of Scilly where it is an extreme rarity at this time of year!

Swallows and House Martins are still being recorded, largely in the south and east. A Wheatear was in Essex on the 24th and a Sandwich Tern was in Devon on the same day. Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs have been recorded up and down the country - look out for these around ponds, in reedbeds and damp habitat.

Apologies for the lack of updates over the last week, I've had a holiday in Cornwall where the highlights were a Barred Warbler, Wryneck and regular Sandwich Terns.

The movement of thrushes has slowed down completely with just a handful of birds reported recently. House Martins were seen in Essex, Hampshire, Somerset, Surrey and Buckinghamshire. Swallows have been seen as far north as Highland but the remainder of the sightings were in Essex (50), Norfolk, Oxfordshire, Somerset and Surrey. A lone Swift was seen in Norfolk.

A Garden Warbler was seen in Tyne & Wear, four Wheatears were in Kent and a Firecrest also in Kent. Also of interest is a count of 200 Goldfinch in Wiltshire and 100 Moorhen at a site in North Yorkshire.

The arrival of winter visitors continues with Redwings, Fieldfares and Bramblings recorded in many areas over the last few days. Peak counts of Redwing include 100 in Derbyshire on the 11th - generally much smaller flock sizes than at the weekend. Where have they all gone too? Good counts of Fieldfare include 120 in Shropshire and 100 in Blackburn with Darwen on the 11th and 80 in Bedfordshire on the 12th. Two Snow Bunting were seen in Tyne & Wear. Elsewhere there were 780 Pink-footed Geese in Fife and Firecrests in Kent and Lincolnshire on the 12th.

There is still a good scattering of summer visitors including a top count of 82 Swallow on the Isle of Wight (11th) with smaller numbers elsewhere, for example, Cambridgeshire (6), Cumbria (8), Somerset (13) and Wiltshire (35). House Martins are still widespread with 50 in Bournemouth (11th) and smaller numbers recorded mainly in southern England. Other species of note are two Whinchat in Cornwall and five in Rhondda Cynon Taff on the 12th, Sandwich Tern in Fife (12th), Common Tern in Tyne & Wear (10th), Lesser Whitethroat in Kent (10th) and a Honey Buzzard on Monmouthshire on the 10th.

The easterly winds over the last few days produced the most exciting weekend of the autumn so far. There was a mass arrival of Redwings on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, with smaller number of Fieldfare recorded. The Redwing were recorded across Britain with peak counts including 40000 in Lancashire, 1000 in South Gloucestershire and several hundred in Somerset, Leicestershire, Merseyside and West Berkshire. Listen out for Redwing over the next few nights giving their characteristic 'tsueep' call as they pass over. Goldcrest were also arriving from the continent and in some places could be found exhausted along the east coast. Brambling were recorded at a few sites along the east coast, with one reaching Greater Manchester in the west.

Summer visitors were also recorded up and down the country - Swallows, House Martins and Chiffchaff were seen across a wide geographical area. Peak counts for House Martin and Swallow were 1000 and 300 retrospectively, both counts in Hampshire. Other summer migrants seen on 10 October include 2 Arctic Tern in Devon, Common Tern in Hampshire, 2 Garganey and a Reed Warbler in Gloucestershire, Hobby in Devon and Dorset, Redstart in Cornwall, Devon and Tyne & Wear, 2 Ring Ouzel in Cornwall, Stone Curlew in Suffolk and Wheatear in Cheshire, Devon, Cornwall and Somerset.

On 9 October a Lapland Bunting was recorded in Tyne & Wear. Throughout the weekend a good number of records were received from seawatching points along the east and south coast, with many Gannets passing. A few skuas, shearwaters and Leach's Petrels were also recorded.

The weather forecast for the weekend looks exciting, especially for those living on the east coast. There is an easterly airflow across Europe which should bring an arrival of birds to our shore. Today there is news of Redwings and Fieldfares arriving in the east. News from Norway suggests large numbers of Fieldfares are gathering ready for migration, so listen out over the weekend for migrating flocks.

On 7 October, a wide range of species were submitted to BirdTrack including a mix of new arrivals and late summer visitors. House Martins and Swallows continue to be seen in small numbers up and down the country, including 21 House Martins in Suffolk. In Fife, Pale-bellied Brent Geese have arrived, with flocks of Pink-feet also in Fife and Aberdeenshire. A Whooper Swan was seen in Greater Manchester. Thirteen Chiffchaff were seen at a site in Dorset.

On 6 October, a late Spotted Flycatcher was seen in Kent, with a Yellow-browed Warbler in the same county.

Derek Adams, a keen birdwatcher has just sent in a poem he wrote about the arrival of the Cream-coloured Courser on the Isles of Scilly. Derek was rather bemused at his friends reaction to the news of the bird - Derek is a keen local patch birder! Thanks Derek.

Migration

Like the dawn chorus
it spreads through the country,
the pager's chirruping beep beep,
the trill song of the mobile,
the PC's tweeter warbles email.
As the rumour gathers momentum
they start to get restless
shift on their perch, check lists,
flick through train timetables,
calculate drive times, polish lenses,
then it comes, the call,
sighting confirmed
Cream Coloured Courser on Scilly.
As one, they take off, fly south,
with scopes, tripods, Barbour jackets
and the characteristic jizz of the twitcher.

As we come into October, many winter visitors from Scandinavia are just arriving on the east coast. The last few days have seen the arrival of the first Redwings, with 52 (and one Fieldfare) at one site in Norfolk on the 30th and smaller numbers in North Yorkshire, Kent and Tyne & Wear. (Even as this is updated, news has just come in of ‘hundreds’ of Redwings and Song Thrushes arriving off the sea in north Norfolk!) Numbers of Goldcrest and Brambling are also increasing as birds begin to arrive, with a peak to date of 10 Brambling in Norfolk on the 30th.

These birds bring with them some late passage birds, and recent records have included several Pied Flycatchers, Redstarts and rarer species such as Lapland Bunting and Bluethroat. The last few summer birds hanging on included Wheatear and Willow Warbler as far north as the Isle of Man and Garden Warbler in Tyne & Wear. Larger counts of Blackcap and Chiffchaff may, however, relate to birds arriving in this country for the winter, and recently, double figure counts of Chiffchaff have been recorded at many sites.

On the rarity front, the effects of the recent westerly gales are evident in the form of many American birds being recorded in Britain and Ireland. The highlights have included several Baird’s Sandpipers (from the Western Isles to East Anglia), a Western Sandpiper, two Buff-breasted Sandpipers together in Aberdeenshire and a report of an American Kestrel in Suffolk!

It is still worth keeping an eye out for some summer species, with reports still coming in of Whitethroat (Devon), Swift (Sussex and Lincolnshire), Tree Pipit (Nottinghamshire) and Turtle Dove (Kent).

With the continued departure of our summer species, we are now seeing their replacements arriving. Weekend arrivals included 3 Redwing in Berkshire, a scattering of Lapland Buntings and Snow Buntings and good numbers of Pink-footed Geese (1,000 in Norfolk and 500 in Lothian). It’ll be interesting to see how these species and others arrive and filter through the country in the coming weeks.

Migration News We’ve just heard of a very impressive visible migration count at Portland Bird Observatory on the 24th, when 3,280 Meadow Pipits were counted over the West Cliffs in just two and a half hours! Can anyone beat that?

Impressive seabird counts included 25 Arctic Tern, 2 Pomarine Skua and 300 Manx Shearwater past Anglesey on the 22nd, 102 Arctic Skua, 147 Great Skua, 1 Long-tailed Skua and 374 Common Tern past one Kent site on the 23rd and a Roseate Tern in Waterford on the 22nd.

Departing summer migrants included Garden Warbler (Hampshire), 3 Lesser Whitethroat (Lincs), Spotted Flycatcher (Beds) and 2 late Turtle Doves (Western Isles). Raptor highlights included an Osprey on the Isle of Wight (22nd) and Hobby still in Kent (23rd).

Several south coast sites have also seen good numbers of passage Meadow Pipits (despite the poor weather). A count of 200 birds over Dungeness Bird Observatory was only beaten by an impressive count of 455 at Portland Bird Observatory during a 75-minute sample count! These birds are almost certainly northern birds heading south onto the near continent for the winter, as most southern-breeding birds are resident.

Thanks for all your sightings over the last few days; good numbers of summer visitors are still being reported. Seawatching has produced a few skuas and shearwaters off both the east and west coasts. On 14th September an impressive count of 1300 House Martins were made in Rutland. Ospreys were seen in Highland, Rutland and Suffolk. Also in Suffolk a Turtle Dove was recorded.
A Little Ringed Plover was at Newport on 15th and a Common Rosefinch was on the Isle of Man.
At this time of year Stone Curlews can form large pre-migration roosts and 31 at a site in Suffolk on 16th is a good example. Also on the 16th Garganey were seen in North Yorkshire and Oxfordshire. Ospreys were seen in Dorset and the Isle of Wight.
21 September 2004

Swallows, House Martins and Sand Martins continue to be recorded regularly but Swifts are now quite scarce. It's a good idea to look at tit flocks closely at this time of year as they might contain late Chiffchaffs, Willow Warblers and Spotted Flycatchers.

A bird ringer in Highland contacted BTO this week to say that he still has two Swallow nests with females incubating eggs and other nests with chicks. Hopefully the mild weather will continue to allow these broods to fledge successfully.

The easterly winds over the week have brought two very early Yellow-browed Warblers to Norfolk, small warblers from the far east.

Waders continue to pass through with superb numbers of Curlew Sandpiper recorded in Norfolk with up to 51 recorded at one site.

Big news hit the twitching world on Sunday when a Purple Martin was discovered on the Isle of Lewis. This is the first record for Britain and Ireland and lingered until Monday lunchtime before disappearing.

We are also receiving records of Swift still attending nests - these records are particularly useful for BirdTrack so please submit them.

With a touch of east in the wind over the last few days, scarce visitors from Scandinavia have started to arrive on the east coast. A few Barred Warblers have turned up, with birds trapped and ringed at Gibraltar Point Bird Observatory in Lincolnshire and Landguard Bird Observatory in Suffolk. Visible migration has also been quite good with Yellow Wagtails, Tree Pipits and Meadow Pipits passing over. Warblers are on the move too, with large numbers of Blackcaps passing down the east coast. Late Ospreys are heading south so keep an eye on the sky!