Species Account
Extract from Bird Report 2024
Fairly common migrant, has bred on rare occasions. (Amber list).
Reports were significantly more numerous in the spring than during the autumn return passage. The first of the year was at Grovebury SP on 15th March, three days earlier than the ten-year average arrival date. Numbers increased as the month progressed, with a high count of nine at Hill Farm, Willington on 24th March. On 14th April, seven were at Brogborough Tip & Pools and 13 were at Thurleigh Airfield, whilst on 20th April, 11 were near Broom. The last in spring were two at Thurleigh Airfield on 12th May, with also one there on the intriguing date of 23rd June. There were two records of the Greenland race, with one at Ashwell on 10th April (LGRE) and two near Broom on 20th April (SCB).
Return passage began on 2nd August, with one at Houghton Brook Pools, and another at Grovebury SP the next day. Other than three at Thurleigh Airfield on 8th September, all reports were of singles or pairs and, allowing for some duplication, amounted to fewer than 20 individuals, with the final bird of the year at Meppershall on 13th September.
