Migrants battle on, and a bonus White Stork turns sour

• Migrant Redstarts in local farmland
• Whitethroats and Swifts arrive
• Whimbrel and Wheatear at Lepe
• White Stork Bonus (County Durham)

Quite a few bits and pieces from the last few weeks. Locally, 2 Redstarts have turned up in local farmland, and I watched my first Swift of the year at Skidmore, with Swallows and Sand Martins.

Slightly further afield at Lepe, Sandwich Terns are now joined by a few Common Terns offshore, and I saw my first Whitethroat of the year singing in coastal scrub. My last visit coincided with bad weather, so I checked out the new hide in the conservation area. A good place to spend an hour sheltered from the rain, but a slightly strange view from the hide as there is a line of trees between the hide and the marshy meadows. Still a few birds on show including 2 Wheatears, 2 Whimbrels, plus Redshank, Shelduck, and a Lapwing.

Finally, on a work trip, I was amazed and delighted to see a White Stork drift North over the A1. I pulled over and was unable to locate but phoned the sighting through to Birdguides. It had also been seen in the morning further south dispelling any thoughts that I had been hallucinating. Also, a few Storks throughout the Country added to the credentials of this bird. It all went a bit downhill subsequently though, as the Durham bird was marked "Presumably an escape" due to the presence of a known escape in the area for the last year or so. So no definite proof this bird was an escape, but so close on the back of the known escape, I'd have trouble convincing anyone that it was a true wild migrant. (As indeed would anyone seeing a fly-over White Stork in the UK by the look of it)

Some recent photos from Lepe: