First Spring Migrant Sightings at Paxton

Two or three Chiffchaffs were in full song on Tuesday at Paxton Pits in the warm sunshine, while a Squirrel gorged itself on the catkins getting covered in yellow pollen. All the chaffinches that I saw had deformed feet - either  “tassel foot” (papillomatosis)  or “scaly foot” (cnemidocoptosis - small mites). The new Hayden hide is now open at Paxton - a metal construction replacing the wooden one which arsonists destroyed last year. There were lots of Reed Buntings and Tits feeding on the table outside the hide, plus a Wren and Robin. In the taller woods, Green and Greater Spotted Woodpeckers were very active yaffling and drumming.