With birders seemingly everywhere bemoaning the lack of birds at the moment i decided to consult the weather charts today in an attempt to get to the bottom of the current migration hiatus. And my prognosis looks grim! Well at least for the moment!
The current weather charts and satellite image of Europe show the possible reason for the migration hold up, with the large area of high pressure over the U.K and Scandinavia effectively forming a block to northward moving migrants with unfavorable NE winds. Also an area of low pressure over Southern Europe is bringing unsettled weather probably holding up many migrant birds further south. We could see a 'rush' of birds moving through when this current weather pattern finally shifts and becomes more favourable for onward migration.
The current weather ensured it was going to be another very quiet day at Lutley. This morning was a total non event visible migration wise with virtually nothing moving other than 5 Redpoll sp that flew over >NE at Wassell Grove Pools.
Otherwise it was the same again with a scattering of Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs around the patch and the odd Willow Warbler. Not even any Swallows were seen this morning!
Further south at Portland Bill the same weather front and cloudy skies brought a reasonable fall of birds today, so maybe we can hope for better things at Lutley tommorow! We 'bird on' in hope!!
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