Early House Martin

Last night, whilst the dogs were having their final wee of the day I got myself another garden tick as a flock of Wigeon flew over. There was also a few raucous Oystercatchers though I've had these a couple of times before.

When I got back home this afternoon I was greeted by a single House Martin circling around the house inspecting the old nests. A very surprising early record, and another garden tick. Shortly after I'd seen the House Martin I had a Sand Martin go straight through too, again another garden tick.


House Martin © Martin Best (undated)

The House Martin was still flying around at dusk.

I'm currently doing a bit of research into the early dates for House Martin in the York Ornithologists Club (YOC) and the Lower Derwent Valley (LDV) recording areas to see how this record relates to past 'early' records. So far I've found one earlier record from the YOC recording area (location unknown), for March 21st 2005. Any more information on early dates welcome....