My first Willow Warbler – a bit late in coming

I heard my first Willow Warbler of the year at my local patch of Stanwick Lakes this morning.  It seems to have been a long time coming since the first Chiffchaff was three weeks ago!  I think of my first Willow Warbler as being usually a week to 10 days after the first singing Chiffchaff.  That’s what I thought until I checked it on my Birdtrack records and found that a 3-week lag is on the long side, but not exceptional.  I am a fan of Birdtrack – have I mentioned it before?

My First Willow Warblers and Chiffchaffs at Stanwick Lakes

Year	Chiffchaff	Willow Warbler	Days apart
2005	25 March	25 March	0
2006	25 March	7 April	13
2007	10 March	abroad
2008	21 March	abroad
2009	14 March	4 April	21
2010	20 March	2 April	13
2011	19 March	2 April	14
2012	24 March	31 March	7
2013	abroad	abroad
2014	11 March	2 April	22
2015	13 March	11 April	29
2016	abroad	abroad
2017	11 March	2 April	22
2018	16 March	6 April	21

Now, obviously I don’t live at Stanwick Lakes – although I know a man who almost seems to – and I don’t visit every day.  But at this time of year (especially at this time of year) I usually do visit several times a week unless I am out of the country and so (having checked my Birdtrack data a bit) these seem reasonably comparable data from year to year. And they are quite fun.

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