Feels rare!

With the persistent e-s-e breeze and thick cloud and spots of rain at dawn, today feels 'rare'! Up in the garden at 7am, four song thrushes around the hawthorns were a good indicator, but it was immediately obvious that visible migration was less pronounced than yesterday. The garden tally was as follows:

Alba wagtails: 1
Blackbird: 3
Song thrush: 5 (as above)
Chiffchaff: 1
Goldfinch: 8
Chaffinch: 2
Meadow pipit: 9

Grove car park or more specifically the tiny church yard here was a hive of activity, with:

Alba wagtail: 1
Chiffchaff: 15
Grey wagtail: 1
Robin: 8
Blackbird: 10 (all at each others' throats, mostly with black bills)
Black cap: 1

Twenty minutes stood at the Salisbury Gardens sun dial produced:

Alba wagtails: 21
Chiffchaffs: 5
Black bird: 2
Linnet: 33
Meadow pipit: 49

Ten minutes stood at the Rex view produced:

Goldfinch: 70
Alba wagtail: 1
Meadow pipit: 17
Chiffchaff: 3
Heron: 1
Sparrowhawk: 1
Grey wagtail: 1

Afternoon update.....

A walk around Ventnor this afternoon wasn't that eventful apart from 10 ring ouzels flushed from the abandoned field on Steephill Down. Blackcaps remain scarce; robin numbers are beginning to build up; jays remain thin on the ground; no hint of wood pigeon movements (so I'm not bothering counting them yet!); goldcrests - what are they?!

Totals as follows:

Alma Road:

Blackbird: 1
Swallow: 2
Robin: 4
Chiffchaff: 6

La Faliase to Myrtle Bay:

Robin: 7
Chiffchaff: 6
Blackbird: 1

Ventnor Park:

Robin: 10
Chiffchaff: 12
Jay: 10
Blackbird: 3
Grey wagtail: 1

Royal Hotel:

Jay: 1
Robin: 2
Grey wagtail: 1
Chiffchaff: 1

Steephill Down:

Ring ouzel: 10
Chiffchaff: 5
Goldfinch: 5
Blackbird: 4
Blackcap: 2
Chaffinch: 2
Hirundines: 10
Robin: 11
Meadow pipit: 47
Alba wagtail: 3