A real mix of species have been recorded in the last week or so, with small numbers of Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps recorded from many southern and central English counties. A Sandwich Tern was in Kent on the 19th and more unusually, a Whitethroat has been seen several time during December in Kent.

Snow Buntings have been recorded in South Gloucestershire (1), Cornwall (3), East Sussex (6), Highland (10), Kent (flocks of 32 and 41). Generally, numbers of Snow Buntings and Shorelarks have been quite low this winter.

Waxwings are cropping up here and there, with 36 in Glasgow, 29 in Fife, 22 in South Yorkshire and smaller numbers in Greater Manchester and Kent.

There was an excellent count of 42 Velvet Scoter in Norfolk on the 20th, and 430 Avocets in Essex on the 17th.

Bramblings have been recorded in small numbers across Britain over the last few days, with a flock of 120 in Gloucestershire on the 10th being the largest recorded. Counts of 40 Raven in Devon and 20 on Anglesey also on the 10th were good, as was a flock of 200 Fieldfares in Lancashire.

Waxwing numbers remain quite small, although a flock of 150 was recorded in Edinburgh over the weekend. Elsewhere there were 20 in Stockton-on-Tees, 1 in Kent, 6 in Conwy and 5 in Suffolk.

A Black Guillemot in Cornwall on the 11th is a good record, and one on Argyll and Bute on the 10th was more expected. Also on the 11th Smew were recorded in Bedfordshire (4), Northamptonshire (4) and Stirling (1).

Firecrests are quite scarce this winter, with the only records in the last few days coming from the West Midlands on the 12th and Hampshire on the 10th.

Waxwings are here again! Although not in the numbers recorded last winter, Waxwings have been arriving in small numbers over the last few weeks and continue to be recorded daily on BirdTrack. Keep a close look for colour-ringed birds. It would be fascinating to find some of the Waxwings colour-ringed last winter.

This is a good time of year to look for Goosander and Smew on waterbodies such as lakes and reservoirs. Goosander numbers will build over the winter, and Smew will arrive, particularly if the weather turns cold on the continent. In the last few days Smew have been recorded in Norfolk and Northumberland.

A few Common Sandpipers look set to winter, as they do in most years. They have been recorded in Cambridgeshire, Somerset, West Midlands and Kent in the last few days. More unusually, three Whimbrel were recorded in Cornwall on 3 December. Very small numbers of Whimbrel over-winter, typically in the south-west. Greenshank also over-winter in the south-west and south-east. Your reports of these species are particularly welcome.

With the cold weather continuing, birds will start to make more use of gardens as they search for food during the short daylight hours. A number of BirdTrack recorders have noted Bramblings in gardens - much earlier than usual. In most years, Brambling numbers start to build up in the January and February. Keep a look out for them amongst the Chaffinches and their characteristic white rumps as they fly off.

Siskins are still rather erratic in their appearance, although the proportion of lists submitted with Siskin on is slightly higher than this time last year.

As predicted, the flow of much colder air from the north really kick-started passage of winter visitors. Many BirdTrack recorders saw big arrivals of thrushes, and in the days after the 17th big numbers began to arrive. A count of 2,150 Fieldfare in Kent was the highest we received and must have been quite impressive. These really are late arrivals, and the graphs of Fieldfare arrival on the species results page show this quite nicely.

Other arrivals included pockets of Snow Buntings, with 100 in Norfolk (20th) and 20 in Kent and Western Isles (both on 17th). Interestingly, these birds are almost certainly from different populations, with the east coast birds of the Russian race (nivalis) and the western birds of the Icelandic race (insulae).

Just to counter this arrival, the last few summer birds included a Sand Martin in Cornwall (19th) and Wheatears in Kent (20th) and the Western Isles (19th).

With the wind turning to the north and colder conditions predicted it will be interesting to see how the birds respond. The last few days have seen larger flocks of Fieldfare reported. They have been quite scarce so far this winter, presumably due to mild conditions on the continent and plentiful food. We've also had reports in that Starling roosts are quite small at the moment. Perhaps with colder weather we may get an influx from the continent.

Snow Buntings have been turning up in good numbers along the east coast too. Do look out for colour-ringed birds if you are lucky enough to get close enough to them and report your sightings to www.ring.ac

Most unusually, a Grey-cheeked Thrush has been discovered in a wood in Hertfordshire. This is a very rare small thrush from North America that is a less-than-annual visitor to Britain and Ireland. It presumably arrived in the strong westerly winds we had recently. Records in eastern Britain are particularly unusual.

Following last winters fantastic arrival of Waxwings it looks like we are in for some more! Over the last 10 days Waxwings have been seen in Shetland, Orkney and the Western Isles and slowly they are filtering onto the mainland. Listen out for their distinctive 'trill' call.

We have also witnessed an amazing arrival of Laughing Gulls and Franklin's Gulls into south-west Britain and south Wales. These species usually live in North America and occasionally reach our shores. The arrival of these coincides with the deep depressions that crossed the Atlantic following Hurricane Wilma. We've also seen a good number of Chimney Swifts in Ireland and a few elsewhere.

Redwings and Fieldfares continue to arrive, although many BirdTrack recorders have noted that Fieldfares are in short supply so far.

Small numbers of Swallows and House Martins linger here, although numbers will drop off rapidly now the weather is turning colder.

Redwings, Fieldfares and Bramblings feature amongst many lists submitted over the last week. In addition, good numbers of Goldcrests, Blackbirds and Song Thrushes continue to be seen.

Peak counts of Fieldfare include 1100 in Merseyside (26th), 120 in Rhondda Cynon Taff (27th) and 112 in Cheshire (26th). The highest Redwing number came from Cumbria (1000!) and Rhondda Cynon Taff (620) on the 27th and Wiltshire (500) on the 26th.

Other interesting sightings include an Common Tern in Hampshire, 100 Long-tailed Duck at a site in Highland and two Wheatears in South Gloucestershire on the 26th. On the 26th there was an Arctic Tern in Kent, a Black-throated Diver in Shropshire, a Lesser Whitethroat in Essex, a Smew in East Riding of Yorkshire and Ring Ouzels in Devon, Isle of Wight and Stoke-on-Trent.

With southerly winds for much of Britain over the weekend, we could see an interesting swift or passerine arrive from more southerly locations. A depression from the west will be hitting the west coast of Ireland and the west coast of Scotland over the weekend, potentially bringing an American vagrant or too or perhaps some interesting seawatching.

A small number of Waxwings were seen over the weekend in Shetland and there was one record from the Western Isles too. Given the incredible influx last year, we wouldn't generally expect large numbers again this year - but you never know! We've had a run of years with quite a lot arriving. Is this the start of another influx?

Winter thrushes continue to feature in the lists of many BirdTrack recorders. A good count of 160 Fieldfare came from Stirling on the 23rd. Departing Ring Ouzels were seen in many areas over the weekend, including an impressive 11 at a site in Gloucestershire. Other records came from Kent, West Yorkshire, Bournemouth, Dorset, Essex, Devon, Durham, Rhondda Cynon Taff, Suffolk and Worcestershire.

There has been a movement of Little Auks off the east coast on Sunday and Monday, with birds heading north - probably re-orientating after being blown south in the windy conditions on Saturday?

Swallows and House Martins continue to be reported with a count of 90 Swallows in Kent and 34 on the Isle of Wight on Saturday 22nd. Hobby were seen in Suffolk and the Isle of Wight.

It was a superb weekend for the arrival of Redwings; large numbers were recorded across Britain. In addition to Redwings, good numbers of Song Thrush and Blackbirds arrived. A feature of the east coast was the good number of Goldcrests around. Incredibly a Goldcrest ringed in Lithuania was caught at Gibraltar Point Bird Observatory near Skegness.

On Saturday 15th October the peak counts of Fieldfare were 70 in Lincolnshire and 50 in Shropshire whilst the peak Redwing counts at sites included 3000 in Derbyshire, 2000 in East Riding of Yorkshire, 866 in West Yorkshire, 430 in Hertfordshire, 350 in Norfolk and 300 in Cambridgeshire. Top counts of Goldcrest included 100 at a site in Lincolnshire, 60 In Suffolk and 40 in Norfolk. Elsewhere 100 House Martin were recorded on the Isle of Wight and good numbers of Chiffchaffs still coming in.

Sunday 16th produced a count of 3000 Redwing in Newport, 500 in Staffordshire and 400 in North Yorkshire. An late Garden Warbler was on the Isle of Man, an Osprey in Swindon, 20 Swallows in Dorset and 18 on the Isle of Wight and 40 House Martins in Dorset.

Tuesday saw a late Tree Pipit recorded in Merseyside. Winter thrushes continue to arrive, along with smaller numbers of Brambling.

Weather conditions are looking interesting for the weekend and we could see an arrival of Redwings, perhaps with a few Fieldfare and Brambling too.

Finches have been moving in good numbers of the last few days, particularly Goldfinch, Siskin and Redpoll.

Dungeness Bird Observatory, like most observatories, having been making daily counts of migrants. Highlights from the 13th are shown below

"Despite early morning rain and overcast skies all day only small numbers of migrants were grounded and a few passed through overhead.
The best of the grounded migrants were five Wheatears, nine Blackcaps, 17 Chiffchaffs, 27 Goldcrests and six Firecrests whilst visible migrants included 40 House Martins, 22 Tree Sparrows, 95 Chaffinch, two Bramblings, 370 Goldfinches, 290 Siskins, 20 Redpolls and 40 Reed Buntings".

Of particular interest, is the large number of 'continental' Coal Tits they have recorded, with up to 100 on 7th October and 60 on 8th. These are of the race ater and tend to show steely blue-grey mantles.

Over the last week there has been an exceptional arrival of Yellow-browed Warblers on the east coast, with smaller numbers found on the south and west coast too. Cape Clear in Ireland recorded 12 on 8 October and a staggering 33 Firecrest on the 5 October! Winds look to turn east for the weekend so watch out for more migrants.

Redwings and Fieldfares have been fairly slow to arrive so far. This time last year we already had a good arrival of Redwing. There has been high pressure sat over Scandinavia which probably means they are happy enough there at the moment!

Many people have also recorded Jays on the move. At this time of year, Jays make local movements looking for acorns and can often be seen in small flocks. Sometimes larger numbers are seen and it throw up the question of whether these are migrants or not. A sighting from Burton Bradstock in Dorset on October 11, made by birdwatchers carrying out visible migration counts reported the following:

"The highlight of the overhead movement however was not the single Golden Plover or the Grey Heron, but the extraordinary sight of flocks of Jays flying in off the sea, the flock was very high - over 50 counted!".

Do look out for small flocks of Jays and enter your sightings into BirdTrack.

With the persistent westerly airflow over the last week, we have received many seawatching records of interest. Some highlights submitted included 2 Balearic Shearwaters, 3 Pomarine Skuas and 1,080 Gannet in Cornwall (1 October), 79 Leach’s Storm-petrels and a Great Northern Diver on the Western Isles (1 October), a Long-tailed and a Pomarine Skua in Kent (2 October), and Grey Phalaropes in Ceredigion and Isle of Man (both on 1 October) and Merseyside (3 October).

Things were quieter on the passerine front, though a count 1,882 Meadow Pipit in West Yorkshire (2 October) was impressive. Despite the wind direction, Yellow-browed Warblers have been turning up in good numbers over the last two days, with birds in all parts of the country.

It is also a great time of year to see the arrival of winter geese. A flock of 5,000 Pink-footed Geese in East Lothian (and 4,000 in Norfolk) must have been quite impressive. Other goose arrivals included 600 Pale-bellied Brent Geese in Dublin (2 October) perhaps fresh in from the west, with only 20 Dark-bellied Brent Geese in Lincolnshire (2 October), possibly newly arrived from the east.

It's been an exciting few days with birds turning up from all directions. From the west, nearctic vagrants have been found in the south-west and northern isles, such as Blackpoll Warbler on the Isles of Scilly and Veery on Shetland. From the east, Yellow-browed Warblers, Barred Warblers and Common Rosefinches have arrived. There has also been good passage from Iceland, with a good arrival of Pink-footed Geese and Meadow Pipits.

Summer migrants continue to be seen, mostly in the southern half of Britain and Ireland. A Wheatear in Moray on the 27th was still far north.

Highlights from Tuesday (27th) include Fieldfares in Lincs (1) and Northants (12), 200 Swallows in Kent, Jack Snipe in Lincs and Hobby in Herts and Bucks.

On Wednesday (28th) 70 Dark-bellied Brent Geese were in Lincs, Swifts in Norfolk and Kent, a count of 2026 Meadow Pipits during a visible migration count in West Yorkshire. The largest House Martin counts came from Durham (100), Hampshire (170) and Surrey (250). Golden Plover numbers are also building up with 550 in Essex, 1000 in Lincs and 1200 in Norfolk.

Thursday (29th) saw a Grey Phalarope in Cardiff, Honny in Hants and West Berkshire and peak House Martin counts of 60 in West Berkshire, 130 in Surrey and Herts.

Siskins have been arriving over the last 10 days and are starting to build up in small flocks. Reports have been coming in of Siskins visiting gardens, which is quite early. In a garden in Brandon, Suffolk on Sunday, an amazing total of 59 Siskins were caught in an hour and a half! Some of these were local birds as they had been ringed nearby on a previous occasion. Small numbers of Redpoll have also been reported, again quite early for this species to be arriving.

On the coast, a few Snow Bunting and Lapland Bunting have been recorded. Look out for them, particularly along the east coast.

Swallows are still here and we've just heard that fledglings from a third brood have been ringed. In most years, Swallows are still present in small numbers throughout October and into early November.

This is a fascinating time of year with an easterly airflow bring migrants like Yellow-browed Warblers from the far east and depressions coming across the Atlantic bringing American species.

Pink-footed Geese continue to arrive in the country from their breeding grounds such as Iceland. Other wildfowl numbers will start to build up over the next few weeks.

Warblers, such as Blackcap and Chiffchaff are still reasonably common, but others like Willow Warbler have largely departed. Few Swifts have been reported in recent days - please continue to record all those you see. Swallows are still present in reasonable numbers at some roost sites.

Northerly winds on Friday produced some excellent seawatching off the north-east coast with large numbers of Sooty Shearwaters recorded, plus the odd Leach's Petrel, Long-tailed Skua and Sabine's Gull. Winds for Saturday are easing off but may still produce some interesting seabirds.

Wigeon are starting to arrive and are often a feature of sea-watches at this time of year. Records of Wigeon over the last few days include 85 Essex (14th), 200 Lincolnshire (15th) and 66 Dublin (16th). Pink-footed Geese continue to arrive with 310 Highland, 100 Merseyside and 15 Angus (15th) and 53 Fife and 200 Moray (16th).

Numbers of migrant warblers, except Chiffchaff and Blackcap, have really dropped off over the last week with just small numbers of Garden Warbler, Lesser Whitethroat, Whitethroat recorded. There have been a few sightings of Hobby too; West Sussex (16th), four Hertfordshire, one Powys (15th).

It's an exciting few days with a north-easterly airflow bringing a good selection of migrants to the east coast including good numbers of Whinchats, Redstarts, Wheatears and Pied Flycatchers. More unusually, there has been a good scattering of Wrynecks (including 15+ at Spurn on Sunday!), Greenish Warblers, a few Red-breasted Flycatchers and Red-backed Shrikes.

Visible migration has been good in the west with 985 Meadow Pipits and 531 Swallow counted at a watchpoint in Lancashire on Sunday. There was a steady stream of Swallows moving along the east coast on Sunday.

Other highlights include two Dotterel in Kent (10th) and Cornwall (11th), 600 House Martins in Cambs (11th), 500 Swallows in Angus (11th), 29 Wheatear in Cornwall (11th), 2000 Swallows in Cumbria (10th) with 160 in North Yorks and 140 in Hampshire on the same day.

The first Fieldfare of the autumn were seen at Great Yarmouth Cemetery on Sunday and Pink-footed Geese were recorded at several sites over the weekend.

The long-awaited easterly winds over the weekend sadly didn’t really live up to their promise, with no large ‘fall’ of migrants. There were reports of Redstarts from many sites, and the odd Wryneck in the north. A few Wheatears were also reported, with a peak count of just 12 from East Sussex, though this site did also have the surprise combination of Saker Falcon and Red-tailed Hawk! Other more genuine raptor sightings included 13 Buzzards in Warwickshire and 6 Hobby in Kent.

Other summer migrants are still around in good numbers, with counts received of 700 Common Tern in Merseyside and 35 Swift in the West Midlands.

Passage of waders continued unabated, with peak concentrations reported of 1,000 Black-tailed Godwit in Kent (and 320 in Lancashire), 45 Greenshank in Lincolnshire and up to 8 Green Sandpipers at sites in East Sussex, Hampshire, Kent and Warwickshire.

Small numbers of Swifts continue to be reported; in most years they are seen in one and twos throughout September and well into October.

It's been a good week for Whinchats, with good numbers recorded along the east coast mid-week. With the weather forecast for the weekend suggesting south-easterlies, turning east by Sunday, there ought to be a new arrival of migrants. Despite northerly winds in the north, new birds have continued to arrive.

It's a great time of year to look at waders, with birds in a range of plumages. Many adults are moulting out of summer plumage into fresh winter plumage. Passage waders can turn up anywhere and it's an exciting time to look at inland waters.

The last few days has seen a good passage of Curlew Sandpipers down the east coast and an arrival of Buff-breasted Sandpipers to Norfolk, Scotland and the Isles of Scilly. There have also been a few Barred Warblers at eastern and northern localities. More unusually, there was a Sabine's Gull at a reservoir in Oxfordshire!

Black Terns have arrived in reasonable numbers at widespread sites such as 29 at a site in Essex on the 29th. With the winds turning south-easterly, there could be a further arrival by the weekend.

Hirundines continue to gather in good numbers. Recent records submitted to BirdTrack include 350 Swallows in Lancashire on 30th and 200 House Martins in West Berkshire, 164 in Warwickshire and 150 in Greater London, also on the 30th.

The recent winds have produced a good number of Barred Warblers along the east coast, with five today on Fair Isle (Shetland) and others in Norfolk, Lincolnshire and Yorkshire in the last few days. These are large warblers, in the same family as Garden Warbler and Blackcap, from further east that regularly arrive on the east coast in the autumn during periods when there is a touch of east in the winds.

There has also been a good passage of Curlew Sandpipers over the last few days, with small parties turning up at both coastal and inland sites. A small number of Black Terns have also been passing through inland waterbodies.

The weather forecast looks quite good for seawatching in the south west on Wednesday morning, and perhaps also on the west coast of Ireland and the Outer Hebrides. Very strong winds are forecast for the Western Isles especially. At this time of year large shearwaters like Cory's and Great, can get moved up to the south-west approaches.

With a touch of easterly in the wind over the next few days it is possible that we may see a few migrants on the east coast such as Pied Flycatcher and Redstart. These are 'drift' migrants that probably originate from Scandinavia but drift eastwards in the right weather conditions.

There was a small movement of seabirds over the weekend with northerly winds in the North Sea producing suitable conditions at east coast localities. A small number of Balearic Shearwaters were seen around our coastline, but the best seawatching was on the west coast of Ireland where several Wilson's Storm Petrels were seen and even the very rare Fea's Petrel.

Elsewhere, waders are still on the move, particularly at coastal sites. Inland, wader passage is quite poor for the time of year. Small numbers of Golden Plover are being reported from inland locations (even had one fly over the Nunnery lakes this morning!). Spoonbills have been recorded in East Riding of Yorkshire, Kent and Norfolk. Five Brent Geese in Essex are a sure sign that autumn is nearly here!

Over the last few days many BirdTrack recorders have contacted us to say that their Swifts have now departed. Small numbers will linger here well into September. Swallows are now forming sizable roosts at dusk and you may see them gathering over reedbeds, and more recently, over maize fields.

There was an excellent count of 69 Little Egrets in Medway on 10th. In Cheshire, a Spotted Crake has been seen for a few days. This is a good time of year to look for them as they feed at the edge of reed fringed lakes, particularly at dawn and dusk.

There was an unseasonal Scaup in Merseyside on the 9th. Elsewhere there are few migrants around, with the best count in recent days being 20 Wheatears at a site in Cornwall. Inland, wader passage is very slow, although on the coast there is a small passage of Little Stints, Curlew Sandpipers and Whimbrels.

New Editing Facilities now online!
You can now edit your visit details, lists and casual records online. From Data Home click on 'View/edit species lists'. We've also made improvements to the maps under 'View my sites' and 'All my species'. If you have any problems with the editing facility please contact web.support@bto.org We've also made changes to the list presented to you; if you've recorded less than 30 species you will continue to be presented with the list of c200 species. You can still use the drop-down menu to add new species.

There has been great excitement in Herefordshire with the discovery of a pair of breeding Bee-eaters on the River Wye. A watchpoint was set up and birdwatchers were able to watch the pair feeding young. Sadly the nest was predated by foxes on the night of 29 July.

There has been some good seawatching conditions in the west of Britain and Ireland over the last week and some good counts of Cory's Shearwater and Manx Shearwater made. The passage started on the 16th with 335 Manx Shearwaters in Somerset, 480 off Clyde on the 18th, 115 off the Isle of Man on the 19th and 143 off Anglesey on the 20th. Manx Shearwaters breed on islands off the west coast of Britain and off the coast of Ireland and can make large movements in search of food.

The first hint of a good Cory's Shearwater movement was on the 19th when 121 were recorded past Porthgwarra in west Cornwall. The 'big day' was the 20th with 105 past Godrevy Head (Cornwall), 200 past Pendeen (Cornwall) by lunchtime, 288 past Prawle Point (Devon) and 300 in two hours past Galley Head in Co Cork. Cory's Shearwaters breed on islands in the Mediterranean from the Balearics east to Greece. They are seen in variable numbers each year, typically in the south-west and off Ireland and usually from mid-July through to September.

Elsewhere a few passage waders have been noted including Curlew Sandpiper and Wood Sandpiper. In Lincolnshire a count of 1000 Dunlin was impressive; at this time of year large numbers gather in the Wash. Twenty Greenshank at a site in Lancashire was a good count.

Crossbills continue to be recorded with counts of 20-40 coming from sites mainly in the west of Britain. Today we saw three fly over The Nunnery in Thetford!

The British Ornithologists Union Records Committee have recently announced some taxonomic changes that concern the name of the Canada Goose. The Canada Goose Branta canadensis has been split into Greater Canada Goose (B. canadensis) and Lesser Canada Goose (B. hutchinsii). The Canada Geese that breed here are all Greater Canada Geese and so far there are no record of Lesser Canada Geese accepted on the British List. The name in BirdTrack has now changed from Canada Goose to Greater Canada Goose.

Records of Quail continue to come in with birds heard in Gloucestershire, Northants, Oxfordshire and the Scottish Borders on the 9th.

Waders are also on the move with two records of Wood Sandpiper on the 10th; in Durham and Kent. In Norfolk, Green Sandpipers have been gathering in traditional sites including 37 at a site near Norwich.

Nationally, bird of the week is the Sooty Tern that has been touring the tern colonies and offshore islands of Anglesey over the last few days. Incredibly it was seen off the coast of Co. Dublin (Skerries and Rockabill) during the late morning and then flew over The Skerries (Anglesey) in the early evening before ending up at Cemlyn Bay for a short while later in the evening! Sooty Terns are highly pelagic and originate from the Tropic where they breed on offshore islands.

There has been some good movements of seabirds over the weekend with 1800 Cory's Shearwaters past Galley Head in Co. Cork. Nearby 300 were recorded in one hour past Cape Clear. An excellent count of Manx Shearwaters was made off Ayr on 3 July when 3500 were observed.

Crossbills continue to be seen in good numbers across Britain but there are few new arrivals on the east coast. A number of BirdTrack observers have recorded late-calling Cuckoos this summer, exactly what this means is hard to see.

Passage waders are on the move with 400 Black-tailed Godwit at a site in Lancashire on 3 July and elsewhere small numbers of Greenshank and Green Sandpiper have been recorded. On the mountain tops, the breeding season for the Dotterel is in full swing. In some years failed breeders move onto Scandinavia to attempt another brood!

We've also received more records of Tawny Owl in the last few days compared with recent weeks. During the autumn BTO will be running a Tawny Owl survey. If you are interested in taking part please contact your BTO Regional Representative or email Chris Morley to find out who that is.

Quails continue to arrive with a peak of five calling from a site in Wiltshire on 28th June. Listen out for them early in the morning and in the evening. They have reached as far north as Lothian and Borders in Scotland and into Glamorgan and Clwyd in Wales.

Waders such as Green Sandpiper, Black-tailed Godwit and Common Sandpiper are being recorded on passage. These are usually non-breeders or birds that have failed and not relaid.

At sea, large numbers (3000+) Common Scoter are off the coast of Aberdeenshire together with 20+ Velvet Scoter. Also in Scotland, 16 Velvet Scoter were recorded in East Lothian on 26th June.

This is the time of year when you can go out in the evening to listen for Long-eared Owls. The young birds make a distinctive 'squeaky gate' sound and can be heard over some distance.

As the summer progresses, we should soon be seeing large numbers of juvenile birds fledging from nests. We have received quite a few reports now of much lower numbers of many Sylvia warblers than normal. Species such as Blackcap and Garden Warbler appeared in very low numbers earlier on in the summer but may be recovering now, but numbers of Lesser Whitethroats are still very low. Obviously, the more records we receive the more we can keep an eye on this trend. Peak counts of some 18 Blackcap and 11 Garden Warbler (on the 21st in Kent and Cambridgeshire respectively) masked much lower counts generally.

There are still a few migrants around, and recent records include Scaup (Rutland on the 21st and Merseyside on the 22nd), Temminck’s Stint (Highland on the 21st) and Ruff (Rutland on the 21st), though a Snow Goose at Rutland may be of more dubious origin. One site in Merseyside also held Ring-billed Gull and Roseate Tern.

It's coming to that time of year when Cuckoo's will stop calling and they will become difficult to detect. Please continue to enter all your records of Cuckoo onto BirdTrack so that we can keep track of the departure of the Cuckoo.
Records of Quail continue to come in with birds heard singing in Gloucestershire, Lincolnshire and Warwickshire on the 17th and in Lancashire and Northamptonshire on the 18th.

Over the last week there have been a number of flocks of Crossbills recorded in Britain including one on Fair Isle. These could be birds from Britain moving around but it is perhaps more likely they originate from Scandinavia. One BirdTrack observer recorded a flock of 70 in North Yorkshire a couple of days ago. In some years we get large numbers of Crossbills visiting Britain, usually as a result of a very good breeding season coinciding with a shortage of food. Crossbills are 'nomadic', that is they move around and change their breeding areas in relation to food supply. Please listen and watch out for Crossbills and enter your records onto BirdTrack.
Numbers of Swallow, Chiffchaff and Cuckoo recorded on BirdTrack this spring are all considerably lower than in 2002 and 2004 (looking at the comparative data that removes observer bias). Ringers are still recording some Swallows that appear not to have moulted completely in Africa, suggesting a tough time during the winter, as well as difficult conditions during migration. The reason why these species have returned in much lower numbers than usual is still unclear.

Over the last week a number of Quail have been heard singing in Britain, the most recent being in Hampshire on 11 June. It is thought that Quail which arrive in Britain at this time of year may well have had a first brood further south in Europe and even that some of the birds are young that have hatched this year and migrated north to breed! Quail start breeding as early as February and March in southern Europe and often migrate north after their first brood. The pair bond is broken and the males will migrate ahead of the females. Listen out early in the morning or in the evening for their distinctive 'wet my lips' song.

Elsewhere, flocks of Long-tailed Tits are starting to roam around and as young warblers fledge these will often join the flock. The flocks can get very big and are well worth looking closely at.

News from Lynden Schofield:
First signs of the summer moult migration of Canada Geese to the Beauly Firth with 21 flying west at
Whiteness Head, Nairn this morning (31 May). Is also earlier each year (due to climate change). Expect the summer moulting flock of Goosanders at Kessock Bridge to build up to at least 50 during the next few weeks. Ditto for Mute Swans. The local Shelducks will soon start leaving the Beauly Firth to be in their lowest numbers here during late summer and autumn.

Results from BirdTrack show that fewer Swallows are being recorded this spring compared with 2003 and 2004 (about 15% down). Poor weather on migration meant that many birds arrived in poor condition. We have also heard from many of our volunteers of adult Swallows being found dead on or near nests. During April the weather was cold in Britain, with strong northerly winds making it difficult for the Swallows to find food. To see the results for Swallow and other species click here and choose the species you are interested in.

Elsewhere young birds are appearing in our gardens and local patches - young Robins, Blackbirds, Song Thrush, Dunnocks and Chiffchaffs are all in evidence. In the long-term study of Swifts in Oxford the first Swift of the year hatched on 4 June - some 10 days earlier than usual. In this study, some pairs have abandoned nesting due to the recent cold and wet weather.

To find out more about Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers and how to contribute to BirdTrack click here!

As we come into June many of the spring passage migrants have passed, but it is still worth looking out for the last stragglers. Over the weekend Little Stints were reported from East and North Yorkshire (28th and 29th) and Wood Sandpipers were seen in Kent (29th), North Yorkshire (29th) and Cambridgeshire (30th). This same Cambridgeshire site also produced Black Tern and Garganey on the same day! Other late migrants included Garganey in Worcestershire (3 on the 29th), Kent (29th) and Hertfordshire (31st) and a scattering of Little Gulls in East Sussex (2 on the 28th), Worcestershire (29th), Devon (31st) and Stockton (31st).

Also hanging on were the odd winter visitors, with unseasonal Redwing reported from North Yorkshire (29th) and Suffolk (31st). Slightly more unexpected were Gull-billed Tern in West Sussex (29th) and a Great Reed Warbler in Bedfordshire (31st).

A few migrants continue to arrive with small falls noted at south coast bird observatories on the 25th including species such as Redstart, Turtle Dove, Spotted Flycatchers, Reed and Sedge Warblers and even some very late Sand Martins.
Some good counts of Swifts have been made over the last few days including 1000 at a site in Lancashire on 23rd and 500 in Hertfordshire on the 24th. In some areas Swallows are still arriving whilst in others the first broods of the spring are not far off fledging!
Passage waders are still moving with small numbers of Curlew Sandpiper, Little Stint, Sanderling and Common Sandpiper recorded from inland waters.
Honey Buzzards have now returned to traditional breeding areas and a few are still being recorded on passage.

WANTED - We need your records of Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers! Over the last 30 years, they have declined by 77% to a point where they are on the official UK Red List of threatened birds. As research to understand the causes of the decline begins, we are keen to know more about where they can still be found, and what makes them tick.

We've received lots of emails over the last few days about the main identification features to distinguish between Great and Lesser Spotted Woodpecker. Here are the most obvious features and behaviour:

Lesser Spotted Woodpecker (left photo)- a small woodpecker, roughly the size of a House Sparrow. The vent (under tail area) is white. The back shows black/white stripes, especially obvious on female which lacks red on crown. Rare visitor to gardens and very rarely seen on peanut feeders. Shy species that occupies woodlands.

Great Spotted Woodpecker (right photo) - a larger woodpecker, just bigger than a Starling. Both males and females have red on the vent (under tail). Regular visitor to gardens and likes to feed on peanut feeders!

Look carefully to assess the size of the woodpecker and check for the presence of red on the vent.

The unsettled weather has produced few new migrants over the weekend. Swifts and hirundines continue to gather at water bodies or stream along the coast with little sign of breeding yet. A most unexpected arrival at Landguard Point in Suffolk was a Trumpeter Finch, a very rare visitor to Britain from the Middle East or North Africa! Further unsettled weather is forecast until mid-week at least.

BIRDTRACK UPDATE
It is now possible for you to change the name of your sites on BirdTrack or make corrections to spelling (a common request!). Go to 'Data Home' and then 'View my sites' and on the table that appears you'll see a link to 'click name to edit'. Click on the site name and you'll get a form that will allow you to change the site name. We're currently working on an editing facility so all your records can edited.

For many inland birdwatchers it's been a poor spring for wader passage with Common Sandpipers in short supply and other goodies such as Curlew Sandpiper also in low numbers. There has been a good scattering of Temminck's Stints with the latest record coming from East Riding of Yorkshire on the 18th.

We have received an interesting email from BirdTrack recorder Neil Cooper who watched as a whole host of House Martins descended and huddled together under the eaves of a barn on the 14th May in South Hams, Devon. The weather was unseasonably cold, with rain and high winds. Neil commented that they have never had House Martins on the farm before, and as the weather improved they moved on.

News from Portland Bird Observatory. Migrants continue to arrive at Portland (Dorset) and you might be interested in the extract below from their website relating to 15th May: "Visible passage was still strong, with remarkable numbers of Sand Martins for the time of year; a 90 minute sample count on the West Cliffs provided totals of 930 Swallows, 640 House Martins, 104 Sand Martins and 18 Swifts flying north."

So although Swallows and House Martins have been late to arrive it is encouraging that birds are still arriving. The average First Egg Date for Swallow is 5 Jun ( range 9 May - 31 Jul ) so these late arrivers will have to settle down quickly and start nesting if they are to fit in two broods.

Following a very early Nightjar in Suffolk on the 27th April, a few more have returned to traditional breeding areas over the last few days. A female flew into a mist-net at a site in Suffolk on Thursday, whilst operating a Constant Effort Site! She was light in weight (just 56g) and probably not long arrived. Given the cold nights and lack of moth activity, Nightjars will have a tough time.

Spotted Flycatchers are arriving slowly with birds in Kent, Somerset, Cambridgeshire, Dorset, West Midlands, Cumbria and Perth & Kinross over the last couple of days.

The last of the winter geese are heading off to breeding grounds in the Arctic and Iceland. Brent Geese numbers have dwindled with flocks of 210 and 200 reported in Suffolk and Lincolnshire respectively. Pink-footed Geese have largely departed East Anglia with a few birds still recorded in Lancashire.

Migrants continue to arrive with good passage of Swifts and Swallows noted. At some site, House Martins are still very low in numbers eg at a site that usually has 50 pairs just 6 pairs have returned so far. Last week in southern France there was a strong passage of Swallows suggesting there are more to come.

Dotterel have been noted on passage birds noted in the Western Isles and Lincolnshire. Also in the Western Isles there was an excellent passage of skuas on 7 May including 475 Arctic Skuas and 144 Pomarine Skuas and a late record of a Smew on the 10th.

Corncrakes have now reached breeding grounds in western Ireland and the Outer Hebrides. So far, only small numbers of Spotted Flycatchers have been recorded and graphs on BirdTrack suggest they are slightly later than last year. There is still concern over Chiffchaffs with our graphs showing considerably lower numbers (comparatively) than the last two years.

The past couple of days have seen the continued passage of late spring migrants, including good numbers of ‘Greenland’ Wheatears (up to 100 at one site in Kent). These are the larger, brighter Wheatears heading along the south and west coasts to Iceland and beyond, and your sightings (click here) quite nicely show the two main passage periods (‘our’ birds being earlier, followed by later ‘Greenland’ birds).

Other migrant records yesterday included a passage Osprey in Devon, a Golden Oriole in near Bristol and White Wagtails in Cumbria, Merseyside and Tyne & Wear. These birds in the northwest are probably migrants returning to their Icelandic breeding grounds.

At sea, there have also been some good counts of Pomarine Skuas along the south coast, with 77 in Kent at the start of the month. These birds also head along the west coast, with sightings also from the Western Isles in Scotland (including 113 heading past west Lewis on 5 May).

Interestingly, all our winter Fieldfare and Redwing seem to have left now, with very few recent sightings (and none since 30 April). Check out the animations of their departure on the results pages.

BIRDTRACK UPDATE
Note that in the Results pages you can now change between the drop-down species list being in taxonomic and alphabetical order. Look in the top left hand corner of the table for the link to change order for viewing results.

We need your records from all your birdwatching trips to help make this website as complete as possible. Please submit your records regularly throughout the year.

The combination of light southerly winds and some coastal mist meant that the bank holiday weekend didn’t disappoint many people. Large falls of migrants (by spring standards) along the south coast included good numbers of Cuckoo, Turtle Dove and Whitethroat.

Other noteworthy arrivals included the first reports of Quail (in Lincolnshire East Yorkshire) and Roseate Tern (two in Sussex), and widespread reports of Spotted Flycatcher (as far apart as Hampshire, Kent and Derbyshire). One BirdTrack recorder was even lucky enough to find a Wryneck in Devon: “I looked, looked and looked again, and told him that I had not seen one before….. . I showed him the picture and he confirmed that it was what he was looking at.”

Some impressive spring counts over the weekend included 60 Little Gull (Merseyside), 12 Nightingale (Kent) and 9 Cuckoo (Suffolk), though the 40 Swift that passed through Dungeness, Kent, must have been slightly worried to find they were migrating with 19 Hobbies!

Not to be left out, the last winter visitors lingered, with Waxwing at several sites, a single Fieldfare in Kent, and Lapland Bunting in Merseyside.

Swifts have arrived in good numbers over the last few days with an excellent count of 1000+ at Abberton Reservoir in Essex yesterday. A flock of 200 at a site in Warwickshire is also notable. BirdTrack recorder Phil Grosse recorded his first Swift in Co. Tyrone today which is about two weeks earlier than usual.

The last few days has also seen a good passage of Whimbrel with some good roost counts coming in. Yesterday a flock of 800 was counted at Mounts Bay near Penzance in Cornwall.

Whitethroats still seem a bit thin on the ground, as do Chiffchaff and Willow Warbler in some area. With southerly winds forecast for the weekend and good weather over Europe we could see further arrivals of migrants and possibly a few spring over-shoots like Black Kite and Red-rumped Swallow.

There was an impressive movement of Arctic Terns in Lancashire on Monday involving 963 birds. At one site in South Gloucestershire 120 were recorded and on Tuesday 140 were at a site in Rutland. A couple of impressive counts of Swifts have also been made including 100 in Powys and 250 in Surrey on Monday and 155 in Rutland on Tuesday. Elsewhere, just small numbers have been recorded. With just small counts of Swallows coming in it was pleasing to see a record of 600 in Lancashire come in. There has also been some passage at Portland Bill including 330 Swallows past in 2.5 hours on the 24th.

Black-tailed Godwits are on passage to breeding grounds in Iceland at this time of year and many of the birds are in superb breeding plumage. A flock of 470 in Lancashire on Tuesday must have been a fine sight! Also heading 'home' were 11 Redwings seen in the West Midlands yesterday.

There was a movement of Little Gulls from Friday and over the weekend with some good counts on Friday including 45 in Surrey, 55 in West Sussex and 180 in Merseyside. Little Gulls traditionally gather in Merseyside at this time of year.

There was a good arrival of Swifts over the weekend with counts of 10 in Hertfordshire, 12 in Leicestershire and 15 in Oxfordshire; elsewhere ones and twos were recorded. Swallows are still thin on the ground with one BirdTrack recorders commenting ' there were more Black Terns at the reservoir than Swallows!'.

Common Terns were recorded in good numbers yesterday including 72 in West Sussex, 30 at a site in Rutland and 21 in Hertfordshire. It's a good time of year to see Whimbrels on passage, both on the coast and inland. Migrant flocks recorded yesterday include 35 in Lancashire, 55 in South Gloucestershire and 64 in Monmouthshire. Redwings, Fieldfares, Bramblings and Waxwings continue to be recorded in small numbers. Please keep these records coming in so we can accurately track their departure.

Special Info required: We've set up some 'Special Info' icons against a number of species on the casual and full lists. When this icon appears (in blue) it means that there is a special survey running that you can contribute records to through BirdTrack. At the moment we have this for Marsh Harrier, Dartford Warbler and Woodlark and a number of species for the Scarce Woodland Bird Survey (eg Firecrest, Redstart, Hawfinch, Lesser Spotted Woodpecker).

Migrants continue to trickle in, with Whitethroats, Lesser Whitethroats, Reed Warblers and Cuckoo's coming in over the last few days. Some birdwatchers have commented about the last of Sedge Warblers and Swallows this spring. A BTO staff member who has been carrying out a censusing project in Suffolk since 1993 said by this stage he would normally expect double-figures of Sedge Warblers singing on his plot and so far he has just 4. BirdTrack graphs for Chiffchaff also show that fewer lists submitted are recording Chiffchaffs this year compared with the same time in 2003 and 2004.

The weather for the weekend looks potentially quite interesting on the east coast with easterly winds forecast and a band of rain moving up from the south-west. Depending on how far the rain gets into the east (and if it reaches the coast) there could be a fall of migrants on the east coast. It's also a good time of year to get a movement of Little Gulls coming in from countries to our east, particularly The Netherlands. Other species, like Wryneck, might also turn up.

Finally the low pressure over France moved on Saturday and gave brighter and clearer weather conditions, prompting a good movement of Swallows into Britain and Ireland. Hundreds were recorded coming in at Portland Bird Obs (Dorset) with smaller numbers at Dungeness Bird Obs (Kent).

There has been a good passage of White Wagtails (Motacilla alba alba) over the last week with birds turning up at many inland and coastal localities. Terns have been arriving steadily with a maximum of 65 Common Terns counted at a site in Kent on Saturday. Elsewhere there have been a few Arctic Tern at inland sites and Little Terns in Devon and Co. Wicklow on Sunday.

Waxwings continue to be recorded in good numbers across Britain and Ireland. Thanks to Rob McAllister for the photo of Waxwings, taken in Belfast, Co. Antrim in the last few days. Rob commented that some of the Waxwings appeared to be paired up. In most years, Waxwings leave quite suddenly towards the end of April. It will be interesting to see if any linger into May.

Migrants continue to trickle in slowly. There is wet weather over Northern Spain, the Pyrenees and France which is likely to hold birds back. Swallows particularly are still thin on the ground with small numbers reported across Britain and Ireland. On Monday (11th) interesting records included a Garden Warbler in East Sussex, Nightingale in Hants and Suffolk and an early Turtle Dove in Tyne & Wear.

Over the last few days a few Cuckoos, Sedge Warblers, Whitethroats, Tree Pipits and Reed Warblers have been recorded. Winter visitors include small numbers of Brambling, 20 Redwing in Durham and 100 Fieldfare in Durham and 200 in Northumberland.

Here's the latest news from Dungeness and Portland Bird Observatories:

Dungeness Bird Observatory - 13 April

Rain throughout the day produced a small but varied arrival of migrants including four Black Redstarts, two Redstarts, at least one "Greenland" Wheatear, a Fieldfare, two Whitethroats, seven Blackcaps, 18 Willow Warblers, 12 Chiffchaffs and a Pied Flycatcher. There was little movement at sea with several hours of watching producing just one Great Skua of interest. The Patch was much better with 200 Common Terns and an Arctic Tern feeding there

Portland Bill Bird Observatory - 12 April

Heavy cloud overhead at dawn dropped the best fall of migrants so far this spring although variety remained distinctly limited. Willow Warblers dominated, with around 400 at the Bill and at least as many more elsewhere around the centre of the island. The Bill area also produced 100 Wheatears, 50 Chiffchaffs, 15 Blackcaps, 8 Redstarts and a Goldcrest but the overcast skies put a stop to visible passage and no more than a trickle of Swallows passed through as the day went on. The only scarcer migrants noted were a Merlin at the Bill, a Firecrest at Cheyne and the first Pied Flycatcher of the spring at Avalanche Road.

Also of interest to BirdTrack recorders might be the Gibraltar Ornithological and Natural History Society

Thanks very much for all your submissions over the weekend. Despite the cold wind a good number of spring migrants were seen and with winds shifting to the west we should see some new arrivals this week.

Fieldfares and Redwings were seen in good numbers including 60 Fieldfares in Fermanagh on 9th, and 30 in Lancs and 30 in Cumbria on the same day. Redwings are mainly seen in ones and twos with the biggest flock recorded being 10 in the Western Isles also on the 9th. A flock of 200 Pink-footed Geese still remain in Norfolk with geese also seen in Lancashire.

Interesting spring migrant records from Saturday include Hobby (Bucks, Northumberland), Redstart (Hants) and Wood Warbler (Hants). On Sunday (10th) records include Cuckoo (Hants), Garden Warbler (Cambs), Grasshopper Warbler (Bath & NE Somerset), Nightingale (Cambs, Dorset & West Sussex), Osprey (Moray, North Yorks), Pied Fly (Staffs) and Redstart (East Sussex, Glos).

Over the last few days Whitethroats and Sedge Warblers have increased in numbers with the first few Reed Warblers also coming in.

Bird Survey Techniques Training Courses BTO run a number of one-day and weekend training courses to help birdwatchers with bird surveys. Spaces are still available on a number of courses including one in Inverness on Sunday 24 April. For further details email here.

With strong northerly winds blowing over the next few days it is unlikely that many new migrants will arrive. Several species appear to be running about a week late this year, notably Chiffchaff and Sand Martin. Generally, Swallows have arrived on time but numbers are very low compared with previous years.

It's an interesting time of year with summer migrants arriving but also some winter visitors still here. On the 6th (Wednesday) Fieldfares were seen in Cumbria, Norfolk and South Yorkshire, Bramblings in Lancashire and Waxwings Kingston Upon Hull and Milton Keynes.

New arrivals on the 6th include a Blue-headed Wagtail in Oxfordshire, Redstart in Devon, Whitethroat in East Sussex and Osprey in Hampshire. There were also Garganey in Gloucestershire, Kent and South Yorkshire and Common Terns in Oxfordshire and Wokingham.

News from South East Spain: A BirdTrack Observer has just got back from South East Spain and reports good numbers of Swifts and Swallows moving through. He noted there were few House Martins and no Wheatears or migrant warblers.

Today we announce news of a national Marsh Harrier Survey Survey organised by RSPB and English Nature (see opposite). Records of Marsh Harrier submitted to BirdTrack will help with this survey. Please use the comments box next to Marsh Harrier to provide additional information.

Summer migrants continue to arrive with a good arrival of Willow Warbler yesterday (Thursday) with records Ireland, Wales and many sites across England as far north as Lancashire. Other arrivals of interest yesterday include a Redstart in Suffolk, Sedge Warbler in Kent and House Martins in Cornwall and Leicestershire.

Winter visitors are still much in evidence with Fieldfares in East Sussex, Hertfordshire, Lincolnshire and several sites in Scotland and Redwings in Cambridgeshire, Devon and Suffolk. Waxwings continue to be reported daily with records yesterday from Antrim, Bristol and Glasgow.

Anyone seen our Swallows?

Despite the good start to the Easter break, there was still no great rush of migrants, and the bulk of our Swallows are still absent! The only new arrivals were: House Martins in Notts (Friday), Kent, Glos, and as far as North Yorks by the weekend; Ring Ouzels at inland sites (including 3 birds in Derbys), an expected pattern of arrival; a sudden flood of Willow Warblers across the country after a slow start (see the animated map of arrivals here); Sedge Warblers in Norfolk, Cambs and Sussex; Tree Pipits in Notts and Hants; Yellow Wagtails in Surrey, Kent and Sussex (rather later than normal) and some nice scarce migrants. The best of these scarce migrants was the arrival around the country of several Hoopoes and Firecrests, which always brighten a day out birding!

The gradual build up of our earlier arrivals also continued, with good counts including 36 Sandwich Tern in East Sussex and 6 Little Ringed Plover in Cambs. High counts were also received for some remaining winter visitors, including a flock of 900 Fieldfare in North Yorks and 320 Redwing in Lancs.

The next week or so should see the arrival of several species such as Reed Warbler and Whitethroat (and an early Pied Flycatcher maybe), so it’ll be interesting to see if they are also later than expected.

With the long Easter weekend coming up, it’s a great time to start recording the arrival of migrants. The current high pressure system over Iberia looks perfect for migration, so Friday should be a good day to find your first summer visitors.
The last couple of days have seen the continued arrival of migrants, with Willow Warblers reaching as far north as North Yorkshire and Lancashire yesterday. The first Common Terns also appeared, with records in Kent and Northamptonshire, and one seen at Holme, Norfolk, this morning is probably the earliest county record by one day!
Other arrivals included an Osprey at Rutland on the 22nd, with three there yesterday. This is slightly earlier than in previous years, as birds normally arrive at the end of March.
Oddly, there still seem to be very few Swallows around. We’d expect them to be here in numbers by now, but we’ve had few counts in. The first record in Ireland was in Co Cork on 21st, so maybe this weekend will see the first large arrival.

The floodgates have opened and migrants are arriving in good numbers across Britain and Ireland. There has been an arrival of Black Redstarts on the east coast with around 10 at Landguard in Suffolk - an excellent number for the time of year. Two Bluethroats of the 'white-spotted' form are also present at the same site.
Chiffchaffs and Wheatears have been recorded in good numbers over the last few days and yesterday two Willow Warblers were heard (in Somerset and Anglesey) - early records for this species.
On 21 March a wide range of migrants were recorded including 170 Sand Martin in Somerset, House Martin on the Isle of Wight, Garganey in Hertfordshire and Norfolk, Little Ringed Plover in Hertfordshire, South Yorkshire and Surrey.
Swallows are very thin on the ground with just one recorded yesterday - in Co. Cork. Other good records for yesterday include Tree Pipit in Devon, Osprey in Perth & Kinross and Ring Ouzels in Carmarthenshire and Cumbria.

Last week saw the first arrivals of Wheatears and Little Ringed Plover in Britain this spring. Wheatear was recorded on BirdTrack on 13 March from Swansea and Little Ringed Plover in Norfolk on the 11th. The weather forecast for the week ahead looks excellent for an arrival of migrants from Wednesday onwards. The south coast should see Wheatears, Sand Martin, Chiffchaff, Swallows and Ring Ouzel.

Large numbers of Redwings and Fieldfares continue to be reported with flocks of 100+ regularly recorded from across Britain. Small numbers of Brambling have been recorded - overall its been a poor year for them. There is still a lack of Siskins, presumably the woods still have lots of seed to offer.

Other classic winter species like Smew were seen in Cambridgeshire and Rutland last week. Waxwings are still widespread with records coming in from the west, south east and right up to Scotland.

A Sandwich Tern was seen in Cornwall on the 13th.

The first signs of the cold weather impacting on birds came from the careful observations of bird observatory wardens at Dungeness and Portland on 3rd March. Both wardens witnessed Lapwings moving in strong north-easterly winds. At Dungeness the visibility was very poor with many blizzards. David Walker counted about 4000 Lapwing arriving from the south and east between 0830 and 1430hrs. Between every blizzard he could see Lapwings moving at sea. At Portland, Martin Cade recorded 456 Lapwings in off the sea from the south-east and heading north. Other movements at Portland included small numbers of Meadow Pipits and White Wagtails moving on the 6th.

Given the cold weather and strong northerly winds over the weekend it's not too surprising that we haven't received any migrants yet. The forecast for the next few days suggest the northerlies will stay with us although we will have a period of more settled weather before turning colder next week. There is a low pressure sitting over North Africa so I doubt much will be moving there either!

A BirdTrack observer who recently returned from Gibraltar (13-18 Feb) reported small numbers of Swallows and Sand Martins there together with Chiffchaffs (could be wintering birds still) and a Hoopoe. We are keen to hear from anyone returning from holiday in Africa or the southern and eastern Med with an update on migration.

Incredibly, two Wheatears were seen in north-west Iceland on 24 February - with photos to prove it!

There has been a small passage of Little Auks in the north-east in the last few days with a peak count of 50 past Fife on 25 February.

Pink-footed Geese are on the move from their wintering sites in East Anglia. Over the next few weeks these will move north through sites in Lancashire and into Scotland before departing for their breeding grounds (most to Iceland). Good counts include 10,000 in Aberdeenshire on 27 Feb and 6,000 in Lancashire on 26 Feb.

Large flocks of Redwing and Fieldfare have also been recorded. Fieldfare flocks include 800 in Lothian and 300 in West Yorks on 26 February. On 27 February there were 300 in Cumbria, 260 in Gloucestershire, 200 in Fife, 200 in Greater Manchester and 200 in West Yorkshire.

As cold weather spreads into the east, with snow in much of central and eastern England it will be interesting to see if we get any weather related movements. Around Thetford, Redwings were on the move this morning with small flocks heading south. Has anyone else noticed any movements?

Waxwings are still being reported in good numbers with the bulk of the birds now in south-eastern and central England. Small numbers have headed west and are turning up in Ireland. One lucky BirdTrack recorder counted 17 in Co. Kildare yesterday.

An excellent count of 450 Avocet was made in Dorset on 20 February. Smew have been recorded in Greater London (4), Leicestershire (2) and East Riding of Yorkshire in the last few days. A Common Sandpiper was seen in Buckinghamshire on the 19th.

One BirdTrack recorder contacted us today to say that a Tawny Owl fell down her chimney last night and flew away unharmed! See the photo below.

Photo supplied by Maureen Nicholas

Good numbers of Blackcap have been recorded this week with records coming from Bristol, Cheshire, Devon, Dublin, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Somerset, South Gloucestershire, South Yorkshire, Surrey, West Midlands, West Sussex, West Yorkshire, Wicklow and Worcestershire. Fewer Chifffchaffs have been with the most northerly in Nottinghamshire.

Woodlarks are just starting to move back to their breeding grounds and a record in Suffolk on the 14th illustrates this nicely.

Elsewhere a Whimbrel and a count of 48 Purple Sandpipers in Cornwall are good records.

As the winds turn northerly in the east again, with possible snow forecast for early next week do watch out for any dead auks washed up on the beach along the east coast. Perhaps we'll also get a further influx of white-winged gulls too?

Swallows are on their way! We have just heard from a contact in southern Portugal that the first Swallow of the spring was recorded on the 11th, which is 9 days later than 2004. So watch out in the next few weeks for migrant Swallows.

Waxwings continue to dominate the birding headlines with large flocks now reaching south-east England and smaller numbers filtering into the south-west. The big flocks in the West Midlands and Wales have largely moved on, although a few remain in these areas. Please keep recording Waxwings on BirdTrack so we can follow their progression. Also keep an eye open for colour-ringed Waxwings and report them to the BTO website.

The influx of Iceland and Glaucous Gulls continues with good numbers recorded throughout Britain and Irelands. Favoured places of these birds are lakes, reservoirs, rubbish tips but they can also be found loafing in fields in large gull flocks.

Over the last few days good numbers of Avocets have been recorded including 153 in Suffolk on 13th and 350 in Devon on the 7th. Great Grey Shrikes have been recorded across the country from Neath Port Talbot (13th) to Durham (12th) and Rutland and Norfolk (8th).

It's a good time of year to listen out for drumming Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers in their favoured locations and in the last week they have been recorded in Greater London and Lancashire (13th), Carmarthenshire and Leicestershire (8th) and Bedfordshire and Suffolk (7th).

Of particular interest are the over-wintering Common Redstart at Wormwood Scrubs (14th) and the Lesser Whitethroat in Aberdeenshire (12th) that still remain.

Over the last week there has been an influx of Shags to inland waters of East Anglia, with two birds on the BTO Nunnery Lakes in Thetford! A number of dead auks, mainly Guillemots, have been found dead along the north Norfolk coast over the last few days. If you're out on the east coast this weekend do look out for dead seabirds on the bead and also check for any ringed birds. If you find a ring please report the details on the BTO website www.bto.org - this may help us work out which populations have been affected.

Other news from BirdTrack includes a count of 10 Black Guillemot in Co. Louth on 31 January, a Black Redstart in Carmarthenshire and 50 Avocet in Devon on 2 February. A number of Common Sandpipers have also been seen; one in Cambridgeshire on 1 February, one in Devon on 2nd and one in East Riding of Yorkshire on 3rd.

Some good size flocks of Golden Plover have been recorded including 700 in West Yorkshire, 700 in Devon, 1000 in Leicestershire and 5000 in South Yorkshire. Please keep these records coming in!

Smew numbers have also picked up with birds recorded in West Yorkshire, East Sussex, Gloucestershire and Kent.

The northerly winds over the last week have produced an influx of Iceland and Glaucous Gulls into northern and western Britain and Ireland. Some harbours and lakes are hosting double-figures of these 'white-winged gulls' from the north. In Aberdeenshire a Ross's Gull was found at Peterhead.

The Waxwing invasion continues with birds now reaching Devon in the south-west and many parts of the south and south-east .Good numbers still remain in Scotland, Wales, northern and central England. There are still few records in East Anglia, although they are starting to filter into Essex. Over the next few weeks we may see Waxwings arriving in the east as they head north again.

A count of 18 Jack Snipe in Wiltshire on Friday 28th was an excellent count for this elusive species. A Common Sandpiper in Somerset on the 29th is a good record for the time of year - a small number regularly over-winter.

On Sunday two Firecrest were seen in Devon , with another in North Somerset (one was in Southampton on the 29th), eight Little Stint were in West Sussex and a Whimbrel in Dorset. Notable counts include 50 Corn Bunting in Hertfordshire, 1200 Fieldfare in Kent, 376 Great Crested Grebe in East Sussex and 50 Red Kite in Buckinghamshire!

Thank you for all your patience over the last few days. The online database is now up and running - I hope you can find the time to enter your backlog of data.

Waxwings are still in the news with flocks heading south and south-west. At least 100 are in Bristol, with smaller flocks as far south as Southampton (Hampshire) and Devil's Point near Plymouth (Devon).

A White-tailed Eagle has moved on from west Norfolk and has spent the last few days touring the Cambridgeshire and Norfolk fens. It was last seen (today) at the WWT reserve at Welney.

The cold, wet and windy weather in the north has brought a small influx of Iceland and Glaucous Gulls into Ireland and northern Scotland, with a few filtering south to join inland roosts of gulls.

Waxwings continue to stay in the north and west of Britain but are slowly moving south with a few records in Devon, Somerset and Hampshire over the last few days. Wales also has really good numbers of Waxwings which is most unusual for this species.

A good number of Tundra Bean Geese still remain in Britain, although numbers have dwindled since the New Year. Over the next few weeks some Pink-feet will be heading north again from wintering grounds further south.

The windy weather over the last few days has not been ideal for birdwatching. We might have expected a few interesting sightings of seabirds but it has been very quiet at sea. At this time of year, the majority of auks and skuas are in their winter quarters so there is little movement off the coast of Britain and Ireland.

Small numbers of Iceland and Glaucous Gulls are starting to turn up in Britain and Ireland. Ports in the north and west are a good place to look for these 'white-winged' gulls. Inland roosts of gulls can often turn up Iceland and Glaucous Gulls so it is worth spending some time searching through roosts just before dusk.

Records submitted over the last few days include 500 Fieldfare and 200 Redwing in North Lincolnshire on the 4th. On the same day a Greenshank was seen in Medway and an excellent count of 200 Ringed Plover was made in Co. Dublin.

On the 5th a Firecrest was in Kent, a Jack Snipe in Wiltshire, two Short-eared Owls in Essex and an impressive count of 100 Tree Sparrow in East Sussex.

Birdwatching in Cornwall on the 7th by one keen BirdTrack recorder yielded four Black Redstart, 34 Purple Sandpiper and 14 Rock Pipit.

Thanks very much for the tremendous number of records that have been entered over the last few days. Interesting wader species and good counts of regular waders have featured in the submissions including 297 Black-tailed Godwit in Lancashire (1st) and 80 Avocet in Kent (3rd). Common Sandpipers were seen in Buckinghamshire, Hampshire and West Sussex on 1 Jan and Green Sandpipers in Hampshire, Leicestershire and Hertfordshire on 3 Jan. Unseasonally, a Whimbrel was seen in Cornwall on the 3rd - in most years a very small number of Whimbrel over-winter here. Two Grey Phalaropes have been seen off North Yorkshire over the last few days; it is unusual to see them at this time of year and also for them to stay around for several days.

Some good counts of Great Crested Grebe have also come in: 95 in East Sussex and 40 in Surrey on 1st Jan and 45 in Worcestershire on 2nd Jan. An impressive count of 200 Red-throated Diver was made in Co. Wexford.

Sightings of Blackcap and Chiffchaff continue to come into BirdTrack including 20 Chiffchaff at a site in Carmarthenshire on 3rd Jan and 14 in Hampshire on 1st Jan. Firecrests continue to be seen regularly in southern England including records in Carmarthenshire, Cornwall, Kent and Somerset in the New Year.