The colder winder conditions over the last couple of days seemed to have put a halt on migration. That said, a nice group of 38 Dunlin and 5 Ringed Plover were on Lytchett Fields on Monday morning. The unsettled weather often gets Swifts going and several were active over Poole Park today and a decent run of Swallow pushed through again on Monday. Other than that it was a rather poor show for birds these last couple of days.

However, with us all being locked up in our houses, it’s been a great time for some ‘noc-migging’ to take place in our local areas. Luckily there are a few of us now that sound record the night sky, hoping and trying to sound record passing migrants that cruise through the darkness. This spring has been really productive so far with some supurb species encountered, ranging from the more typical Coot, Moorhen and Water Rail to the not so typical Spotted Redshank, Common Scoters or Eurasian Dotterel. Below are a series of examples of recordings we’ve complied from our local area as well as a few recordings from another local noc-migger Nick Hull.

Little Grebe – Lytchett Bay – Paul Morton

Whimbrel – Lytchett Bay – Paul Morton

Eurasian Dotterel – Lytchett Matravers – Paul Morton

Spotted Redshank – Lytchett Bay – Nick Hull