I ran nocturnal migration (nocmig) recorders at both locations throughout March, as I hope to throughout both extended migration periods again this year: an mp3 recorder in a garden in Flamborough village and an Audiomoth at Buckton. Conditions were far from condusive overall (and were only suboptimal beyond that), with persistently strong, unfavourable winds for the first half of the month. Still, it was more than worth it, if only for a certain two species making their way back to more northerly climes...
An unprecedented night of Common Scoter migration on 28th.....
.... followed by a record spring passage of Redwings the following night
Flamborough
As mentioned above, pretty much all of the first fortnight was a write-off due to the strong winds (and unreadable sonograms), but when conditions improved mid-month - however temporarily - then so did nocmig results.
The cast was relatively consistent for much of the latter half of the month, with small numbers of Little Grebes, Coots, Moorhens, Water Rails, Song Thrushes, Blackbirds, Black-headed and Common Gulls, Curlews, Oystercatchers, Teal and Wigeon all clocking in on multiple nights, the first Snipe, Golden and Grey Plovers mid-month, and the odd Robin and Skylark providing additional passerine interest.
It was the last week of the month, however, which really made the effort worthwhile, with several nights in particular overshadowing an otherwise pretty muted nocmig month overall. 'New' species in those final days of the month included Little Ringed Plover, Bar-tailed Godwits, Gadwall, Dunlin and Redshank, and the commoner migrants all became more numerous - but it was two species in particular that stole the show.
The 24th - one of a handful of productive nights towards the end of the month
Late March is the (hotly anticipated) peak time for overland Common Scoter migration, as those wintering in the Irish Sea respond to the collective urge to return to Scandinavia and beyond for the breeding season. The numbers we pick up on nocmig vary according to conditions, timing, and the exact route the birds take - all of which conspired perfectly to produce an unprecedented, almost constant stream of Scoters over the village recorder through the night of 28th-29th.
An amazing 84 flocks, producing a total of 4839 visible calls, poured over between 2330 and 0320 that night; amazing. I could wax lyrically about this beautiful phenomenon endlessly here, but to save you the repetition, for a full summary of that night - and to listen and enjoy the spectacle - head here instead: Mass Common Scoter exodus over Flamborough, 28th March '22
Redwings were not to be outdone, however, and were consistently numerous in the latter half of the month. Many (most) nights saw registrations into double figures, and plenty of nights saw triple figures - including 411 on 23rd, 399 on 24th, 131 on 25th, 212 on 26th, 347 on 27th, and 485 on 28th; exceptional numbers for spring and again unprecedented on my nocmig studies so far here.
But it was the night of the 29th that really blew the doors off (see above), with what was effectively a constant, hypnotic cycle of tssips from dusk til dawn. Again I could drone on further here, but if you'd like to hear / read more about it, head over here instead: Huge Redwing migration over Flamborough, 29th March '22
By the end of March, my Flamborough recorder had logged totals of 4622 Redwing registrations and 123 flocks of Common Scoters, mostly within the last week or so of the month. Not bad...
Little Ringed Plover - the first of the year flew over calling on the night of 24th
Buckton
Three long, dense skeins of Pink-footed Geese yapped over the recorder on 5th, which - apart from small numbers of a few expected species - were pretty much as good as it got during the first half of the month, with the strong winds effectively blocking out the sonograms (and presumably much actual movement) until a change in conditions on 13th brought a sharp and very welcome increase in variety and abundance (see below).
For the following fortnight or so it was steady as she goes, with a similar cast of species - Blackbirds, Moorhens, Curlews, Teal, Wigeon, Song Thrushes, Water Rails, Common and Black-headed Gulls, odd Golden and Grey Plovers, good numbers of Redwings, and several nights of Common Scoter movement - dominating the counts, with Redwings being especially consistent and numerous; many nights included double-figure registrations of these exiting Scandinavians, with several well into three figures; a total of 2062 for the month, with a peak of 519 on 29th, must've been just a fraction of the actual number going over, but it's wonderful to record them nonetheless.
But, as at Flamborough (although not to quite the same degree), that big Redwing night was preceded the night before by a huge Common Scoter migration: the Buckton recorder picked up 22 discrete flocks and 643 calls that night, a fitting conclusion to a great month for this species overall, with a total of 49 flocks through the month there; interestingly, these flocks were more evenly spread than at Flamborough - over a total of eight nights, from 13th to 28th.
