It seems unusual that the majority of sightings of Sand Martin thus far this spring have occured way north of the south coast. The few that made it must have made good headway over the previous few balmy days.
going off the date it's 5 days early but if you take into account gross cheating by this year having an extra day in it, it's only 4 actual days earlier than the other one.
For those interested - a little bit of further info (tabulated data, graph and map) on early Sand Martin arrivals nationally in 2012 can be found on the following BTO Birdtrack page.
Just read in bird sightings that 7 Sand Martins are in Salford is this the earliest ever, I know I should check in past GM bird reports but I,m not near them. Cheers Ian
Just read in bird sightings that 7 Sand Martins are in Salford is this the earliest ever, I know I should check in past GM bird reports but I,m not near them. Cheers Ian
Hi Ian,
As per the 2009 County Report the earliest ever dates for Sand Martin were 7/3/1994 & 7/3/2003. So this would be the earliest by 5 days. Interesting to note the trend is for earlier birds as the average arrival date for Sand Martin between 1974 - 1990 was 25th March and for 1991 - 2000 was ten days earlier at 15th March.
I've also seen somewhere on the forum the reports of a Willow Warbler seen today - this would be the earliest ever by eight days. The earliest reported birds being on 10/3/93 and 10/3/94. Again the trend for this species is for earlier arrivals, with the average date between 1974 - 1990 being 3rd April and 1991 - 2000 being 24th March.
Hope this is of some help?
Regards,
Bill.
-- Edited by Bill Myerscough on Friday 2nd of March 2012 08:12:15 PM
is this the earliest ever, I know I should check in past GM bird reports but I,m not near them.