Ring Ouzel
02 Apr 2013
Ring Ouzel is a classic late March / early April migrant and, despite the weather conditions, the BirdTrack reporting rate shows that it is arriving right on cue this year. However – and like another early-arriving species, Wheatear – the distribution of the arrival seems to be notably restricted to southern England, Wales and Ireland. In contrast, by week 12 (18–24 March) in 2012, multiple birds had been recorded back on their breeding grounds in the Pennines, with several records from the Welsh and Scottish uplands the following week (25–31 March). This year there have already been many reports of migrants being 'held up' on the south coasts; over the the Easter weekend, for example, we received news of exhausted, beach-feeding Chiffchaffs in Plymouth, one being so tame that it actually alighted on the observer's foot!
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