Red-rumped Swallow

An 0530 start this morning in Winterton north dunes with fellow spotter, Tim Hemmings, was rewarded with the sighting of a rare RED-RUMPED SWALLOW that flew south along the dunes in the company of a couple of its more common relative, the Barn Swallow. Big thanks to Andrew Grieve who was watching visible migration at Horsey, about a kilometre to the north of Tim and me, when he spotted the swallow and radioed through to us. This enabled us to pick it up and get a couple of record shots of the bird as it zoomed through... Most of the birds today were flying south, into a moderate south/south-easterly wind, a common feature of bird migration in Spring and seemingly at odds with the view that they should all be flying north for the summer. The day was also notable for the passage of Bar-tailed Godwits. I had my record day count of these waders, totalling 78 by 1130am. I decided to count everything today to get a sense of the numbers of birds passing through and I ended up with 178 Linnets, 40 Goldfinches, 99 Barn Swallows and 21 Whimbrels (all going south!).

With Red Kite and Red-rumped Swallow, clearly it is going to be a "Red" few days... Dare I hope for a Red-footed Falcon tomorrow....??

Photos: Red-rumped Swallow at Winterton north dunes; and one of the groups of Bar-tailed Godwit that passed along the shore today