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12 to 14 March

Exited to start the spring season, I arrived with the first ferry on 12 March, and seawatched from 10h00 until 17h15. There were sunny periods, but it was mainly a bit foggy with cloud covered skies and limited visibility (less than 6 km.). There was hardly any wind, force 1 from the east.

Seabirds:
30 Red-necked Phalaropes
2 Ancient Murrelets

Ducks:
13 Garganeys

Gulls:
47 gulls spec.
2 Black-tailed Gulls
113 Heuglin’s Gulls

Swift(lets), swallows and martins:
1 Barn Swallow

Checklist on eBird: https://ebird.org/checklist/S131079344
Count on Trektellen: https://www.trektellen.nl/count/view/3323/20230312

It was overall cloudy on 13 March, with light rain and limited visibility (less than 3 km.) in the morning, but dry and clear afterwards. Winds had increased to force 5 in the morning, decreasing to force 4 in the afternoon, and still coming from the east. Seawatching was done from 06h40 to 10h25 and from 13h40 to 16h35. The reason that it was not a full day seawatching – which is the aim – was that there was basically hardly any migration, and the period around noon tends to be the calmest.

Egrets and herons:
1 Little Egret

Waders:
1 wader spec.

Gulls:
7 gulls spec.

Swift(lets), swallows and martins:
14 Barn Swallows

Passerines:
1 Grey Wagtail

Checklist on eBird:  https://ebird.org/checklist/S131079496
Count on Trektellen: https://www.trektellen.nl/count/view/3323/20230313

14 March was yet another total off-day, with again hardly any birds. I quit earlier than usual, and seawatched from 06h40 until 11h15. Weather was very good for seawatching: Cloudy, with clear views, and force 4 easterly winds.

Gulls:
1 gulls spec.
4 Black-tailed Gulls
1 Heuglin’s Gulls

Swift(lets), swallows and martins:
10 Barn Swallow

Checklist on eBird: https://ebird.org/checklist/S131079572
Count on Trektellen: https://www.trektellen.nl/count/view/3323/20230314

Remarks:

The only remark is that there was almost no migration, except some on 12th. That happens from time to time. Let’s look forward to a much better survey, as this was one of the most disappointing ones.

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19 to 23 March

After the previous and disappointing survey, we were all set for better days. Although the original plan was to go on different dates from last year, we had to choose the same dates after all. But then it would be nice to compare the results.

With the early Sunday ferry on 19 March, I could start seawatching from 10h00, until 16h15. Weather was cloudy, but fairly clear. However, visibility got limited to about 3 km in late afternoon. Winds were coming from the east with force 5, decreasing to 3.

Seabirds:
13 Red-necked Phalaropes
3 Streaked Shearwaters

Egrets and herons:
8 Eastern Cattle Egrets
1 Grey Heron

Raptors:
1 Peregrine Falcon present

Gulls:
4 Heuglin’s Gulls

Terns:
1 Greater Crested Tern

Swift(lets), swallows and martins:
6 Barn Swallows

Checklist on eBird: https://ebird.org/checklist/S131360989
Count on Trektellen: https://www.trektellen.nl/count/view/3323/20230319

This survey consists of three full days, but 20 March turned again to be a most quiet day. Only 33 individuals were counted, mostly during the morning. I watched from 06h35 to only 13h30. Still cloudy, with easterly winds force 3.

Seabirds:
1 jaeger spec.
1 Ancient Murrelets
4 Streaked Shearwaters

Waders:
1 wader spec.
1 Oriental Pratincole

Gulls:
4 gulls spec.
4 Heuglin’s Gulls
2 Black-tailed Gulls

Terns:
5 Greater Crested Terns

Swift(lets), swallows and martins:
9 Barn Swallows

Passerines:
1 White Wagtail

Checklist on eBird: https://ebird.org/checklist/S131361213
Count on Trektellen: https://www.trektellen.nl/count/view/3323/20230320

While 21 March last year was one of the most memorable days on Po Toi for me (http://www.hkbws.org.hk/BBS/view ... amp;page=1#pid87762), it was again very quiet this year, with not even a hundred migrants. I watched for them from 06h40 until 16h15. The cloudy day started a bit foggy, but turned bright and clear. Hardly any winds in the morning, increasing to force 2 to 3 from the south.

Seabirds:
6 Red-necked Phalaropes
1 Ancient Murrelet
2 Streaked Shearwaters

Egrets and herons:
1 Great Egret

Raptors:
2 Ospreys
2 Peregrine Falcons present

Gulls:
14 gulls spec.
64 Heuglin’s Gulls
4 Black-tailed Gulls

Terns:
1 Greater Crested Tern

Swift(lets), swallows and martins:
3 Barn Swallows

Checklist on eBird: https://ebird.org/checklist/S131437314
Count on Trektellen: https://www.trektellen.nl/count/view/3323/20230321

No change for the better on 22 March. It was so somniferous that I took a lunch break, which is usually – even on good days – a more quiet time of the day anyway. So seawatching was done from 06h30 until 10h30 and again from 14h40 until 16h40. I counted only 12 migrants in the morning hours, which is supposed to be the busiest time of the day. The weather was cloudy, with very limited sunshine, and winds were blowing from the south to southwest with force 2 to 3.

Seabirds:
2 Red-necked Phalaropes

Waders:
1 Oriental Pratincole

Gulls:
4 gulls spec.
33 Heuglin’s Gulls
1 Black-tailed Gull

Terns:
3 Greater Crested Terns
2 Caspian Terns
1 Common Tern

Swift(lets), swallows and martins:
1 Barn Swallow

Checklist on eBird: https://ebird.org/checklist/S132733165
Count on Trektellen: https://www.trektellen.nl/count/view/3323/20230322?sc=0

You could say that I was almost glad that 23 March was the last day. And, indeed, it was no different from the previous days, with hardly any migrants. I started at 06h35 but finished early, at 11h15. Still cloudy, but turning sunny. Force 2 to 3 winds from the south.

Seabirds:
3 Red-necked Phalaropes

Gulls:
8 gulls spec.
12 Heuglin’s Gulls
2 Black-tailed Gulls

Terns:
5 Greater Crested Terns
2 Caspian Terns

Swift(lets), swallows and martins:
6 Barn Swallows

Checklist on eBird: https://ebird.org/checklist/S132733676
Count on Trektellen: https://www.trektellen.nl/count/view/3323/20230323

Remarks:

We can make very similar remarks, like the previous survey: there was almost no migration. There was an average of 51 individual migrants counted on a daily basis. Last year, on just three days (20, 21 and 22 March), there were almost ten times as much migrants: an average of 501.

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March 2023

Let’s wrap-up March, using data from Trektellen. There were only 2 surveys, with just 1 real full day and 7 half/partial days. This resulted in total observation time of 52 hours and 15 minutes. Last year: 91 hours and 55 minutes.

When we did the surveys, It was extremely quiet: a total of only 501 migrating birds were seen. Indeed, the total seen in 2023 was exactly equal to the average seen on just three days in March 2022. And there was really nothing that deserves to be mentioned: no high counts, no rarities, no new early or late dates,…

To me, this leads to more questions without answers. Which counts were normal, those in 2022 or those in 2023? Why was there such a huge difference in the number of migrants? And why was there such a difference for all birds? Not just seabirds like jaegers and shearwaters, but also herons, gulls, terns, swallows,… Only Black-tailed Gulls and Eastern Cattle Egrets were a bit more numerous this year compared to last year. Or did we just miss the March peak of migrants by a few days? Meaning our surveys in 2023 were just badly timed? Don’t forget that we watched for almost  92 hours in 2022, but only for 52 hours in 2023. So, it’s not totally odd that the numbers of birds were lower. But still the difference for the whole of March is striking.

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25 to 29 April

After a very weak month of March, at least for our surveys, and a long pause, we were back on the rocks by the end of April. This is a very favourable time of year, together with the first weeks of May and with September. So we were hopeful for finally some good seawatching days.

We arrived on Tuesday 25 April and could start seawatching from 11h40 onwards, until 16h20. Cloudy skies, with winds blowing from the northeast with force 3. We encountered quite some fog after 16h00.

Seabirds:
60 Red-necked Phalaropes
1 Parasitic Jaeger

Egrets and herons:
9 Little Egrets

Waders:
2 waders spec.

Terns:
18 terns spec.
4 Bridled Terns
20 Aleutian Terns
1 Little Tern
2 Whiskered Terns
84 Common Terns
10 Greater Crested Terns

Doves:
1 Oriental Turtle Dove

Swift(lets), swallows and martins:
1 Pacific Swift
19 Barn Swallows

Passerines:
1 Eastern Yellow Wagtail

Checklist on eBird: https://ebird.org/checklist/S135772047
Count on Trektellen: https://trektellen.nl/count/view/3323/20230425

Full days, of course, create the best chances and we seawatched from 06h00 until 16h00 on 26 April. Still cloudy, but views were clearer. Winds came from the north with force 2 to 3 in the morning and from the east with force 3 to 4 in the afternoon.

Seabirds:
427 Red-necked Phalaropes
8 jaegers spec.
1 Parasitic Jaeger

Egrets and herons:
16 egrets spec.
1 Great Egret
1 Intermediate Egret
2 Chinese Egrets
4 Little Egrets
32 Eastern Cattle Egrets
5 Chinese Pond Herons

Waders:
50 waders spec.
20 Eurasian Whimbrels
1 Marsh Sandpiper

Terns:
23 terns spec.
2 Bridled Terns
14 Gull-billed Terns
1 White-winged Tern
1 Whiskered Tern
11 Black-naped Terns
2 Common Terns
7 Greater Crested Terns

Swift(lets), swallows and martins:
12 Barn Swallows

Passerines:
1 Grey Wagtail
10 Eastern Yellow Wagtails
1 Richard’s Pipit

Further of notice was the presence on the rocks of 2 Ruddy Turnstones, 2 Red-necked Stints, and 1 Grey-tailed Tattler.

Checklist on eBird: https://ebird.org/checklist/S135772228
Count on Trektellen: https://trektellen.nl/count/view/3323/20230426

On 27 April, easterly winds strengthened to force 5 in the morning, but decreasing to force 4 in the afternoon. Another cloudy day, with bright periods around noon. Although still not that many migrants around, this was a fairly good day and we watched from 06h00 to 17h00.

Seabirds:
99 Red-necked Phalarope
5 Parasitic Jaegers
7 Long-tailed Jaegers
3 Short-tailed Shearwaters
1 shearwater spec.
1 Masked Booby
1 Brown Booby

Egrets and herons:
4 egrets spec.
1 Great Egret
5 Little Egrets
5 Eastern Cattle Egrets
1 Chinese Pond Heron
1 Black-crowned Night Heron

Waders:
19 waders spec.
24 Eurasian Whimbrels
1 Far Eastern Curlew
1 Ruddy Turnstone
3 Wood Sandpipers

Gulls:
1 Heuglin’s Gull

Terns:
58 terns spec.
53 Bridled Terns
74 Aleutian Terns
31 Little Terns
2 Gull-billed Terns
5 White-winged Terns
1 Whiskered Tern
4 Black-naped Terns
108 Common Terns
26 Greater Crested Terns

Swift(lets), swallows and martins:
1 Pacific Swift
13 Barn Swallows

Passerines:
1 Eastern Yellow Wagtail

Checklist on eBird: https://ebird.org/checklist/S135772447
Count on Trektellen: https://trektellen.nl/count/view/3323/20230427

28 April was the day we have been waiting for, with 2,256 migrating birds. Finally. Hence, we watched for twelve hours, from 06h00 to 18h00 to get as much out of it as possible. After a cloudy morning with some drizzle, it turned-out bright and sunny in the afternoon. Easterly winds started with force 5 for a very short while in the morning and decreased to force 3 in the afternoon.

Seabirds:
242 Red-necked Phalaropes
12 Parasitic Jaegers
10 Short-tailed Shearwaters
1 Brown Booby

Egrets and herons:
4 egrets spec.
1 Great Egret
22 Eastern Cattle Egrets

Waders:
4 waders spec.
5 Eurasian Whimbrels
6 Far Eastern or Eurasian Curlews
1 Oriental Pratincole

Terns:
124 terns spec.
111 Bridled Terns
82 Aleutian Terns
974 Little Terns
5 Gull-billed Terns
38 White-winged Terns
5 Whiskered Terns
10 Black-naped Terns
514 Common Terns
66 Greater Crested Terns

Swift(lets), swallows and martins:
18 Barn Swallows

Passerines:
1 Eastern Yellow Wagtail

Checklist on eBird: https://ebird.org/checklist/S135772826
Count on Trektellen: https://trektellen.nl/count/view/3323/20230428

And the last day, 29 April. We started at 05h50 and finished at 11h00. Winds turned northeast, with force 2 to 3. It was cloudy with bright periods, but limited visibility.

Seabirds:
160 Red-necked Phalaropes
9 Parasitic Jaegers
1 Streaked Shearwater
9 Short-tailed Shearwaters

Egrets and herons:
2 Little Egrets
1 Eastern Cattle Egret
1 Chinese Pond Heron

Waders:
19 Eurasian Whimbrels

Terns:
19 terns spec.
101 Bridled Terns
21 Aleutian Terns
137 Little Terns
12 gull-billed Terns
20 White-winged Terns
3 Whiskered Terns
1 Roseate Tern
38 Black-naped Terns
534 Common Terns
38 Greater Crested Terns

Passerines:
1 Grey Wagtail
1 Eastern Yellow Wagtail

Checklist on eBird: https://ebird.org/checklist/S135773065
Count on Trektellen: https://trektellen.nl/count/view/3323/20230429

Remarks

We finally experienced some really good migration days. The following sightings were particularly noteworthy.

The adult Masked Booby on 27th was only the second or third record for Hong Kong, depending on whether the one from May last year will be accepted. A short clip of the bird can be seen in this video: https://youtu.be/QF6qhpWE9ts

The count of 974 Little Terns was an absolute record for Hong Kong, as the previous high count was 400 on 2 May 1999 during Typhoon Leo. There might even have been more, as some were flying over the rocks, which I won’t notice most of the time as I’m looking at the sea.

And the counts of Common Terns were quite good as well. The previous record counts from our surveys on Po Toi were 447 on 4 May and 456 on 5 May 2022. This year, the highest numbers were 514 on 28 and 534 on 29 April. It’s worth mentioning that both high counts were on two days, as if they move through in waves. We did not see the same phenomenon with the Little Terns; the high count was clearly just on a single day.

And 38 migrating Black-naped Terns is another good count for Po Toi.

We also had two first records for our own surveys that started in 2021: Richard’s Pipit and Chinese Egret.

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April 2023

Let’s wrap-up April, using data from Trektellen. There was only 1 survey, with 3 full days and 2 half/partial days. This resulted in total observation time of 42 hours and 50 minutes. Last year: 67 hours and 45 minutes.

Apart from what we’ve discussed under the remarks earlier, there is not that much to add. Because we did just one survey this year, compared tot 3 last year. Yet, we managed to count more migrants this year: 4,771 individuals, compared to 4,314 last year. Much larger numbers of Red-necked Phalarope (+76%), Little Tern (+244%) and Common Tern (+103%) were responsible for the higher total number.

April is a great month, also because there can be very different species occurring at the beginning and at the end, like gulls and terns resp.

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16 to 20 May

May is one of the best months for seawatching on Po Toi. So we planned another survey, in the third week of the month. We were there last year during the same time, so it would additionally be interesting to compare both years.

That May is a good month, was immediately illustrated by an excellent start of the survey on 16 May, even when we watched just for half a day (and missing the busy morning hours). We counted migrants from 11h40 until 18h10. It was quite a dull, cloudy day, with some drizzle or light rain. Visibility was only about 3 km around noon, but we had clear views in the afternoon. Winds were blowing from the southeast, with force 2, slightly increasing to 3.

Seabirds:
147 Red-necked Phalaropes
3 Parasitic Jaegers
1 Bulwer’s Petrel
1 shearwater spec.
2 Streaked Shearwaters
38 Short-tailed Shearwaters

Egrets and herons:
13 egrets spec.

Ducks:
1 duck spec.

Gulls:
1 Slaty-backed Gull

Terns:
110 terns spec.
40 Bridled Terns
13 Aleutian Terns
14 Little Terns
7 Gull-billed Terns
402 White-winged Terns
6 Whiskered Terns
1 Black-naped Tern
162 Common Tern
40 Greater Crested Terns

Swift(lets), swallows and martins:
6 Barn Swallows

Checklist on eBird: https://ebird.org/checklist/S139063785
Count on Trektellen: https://trektellen.nl/count/view/3323/20230516

17 May wasn’t a bad day either, and we could watch from 05h50 until 17h45. The weather was mostly cloudy, but with sunny periods in the afternoon. There was basically no wind when we started, but a southeasterly wind gradually increased to force 3 by noon and decreased to 2 in the afternoon.

Seabirds:
117 Red-necked Phalaropes
3 Parasitic Jaegers
2 jaegers spec.
1 Bulwer’s Petrel
2 Streaked Shearwaters
38 Short-tailed Shearwaters

Egrets and herons:
17 egrets spec.

Gulls:
1 Black-tailed Gull

Terns:
80 terns spec.
29 Bridled Terns
14 Aleutian Terns
21 Little Terns
1 Gull-billed Tern
102 White-winged Terns
1 Whiskered Tern
9 Roseate Terns
10 Black-naped Terns
222 Common Terns
85 Greater Crested Terns

Swift(lets), swallows and martins:
1 swift spec.
1 Barn Swallow

Passerines:
1 Eastern Yellow Wagtail

Checklist on eBird: https://ebird.org/checklist/S139065198
Count on Trektellen: https://trektellen.nl/count/view/3323/20230518

You could say we had seen the best days of the survey and the party was over on 18 May. Nevertheless, we seawatched from 05h45 until 16h45. Again, mostly cloudy, but with lengthy attempts for sunshine. Visibility was limited to less than 3 km throughout the day. Winds had turned to the southwest, with force 1, increasing to 2 in the afternoon.

Seabirds:
37 Red-necked Phalaropes
1 Streaked Shearwater
3 Short-tailed Shearwater
1 Brown Booby

Egrets and herons:
9 egrets spec.
10 Little Egrets

Terns:
12 terns spec.
12 Bridled Terns
1 Sooty/Bridled Tern
1 Little Tern
25 White-winged Terns
8 Roseate Terns
41 Common Terns
9 Greater Crested Terns

Swift(lets), swallows and martins:
2 Barn Swallows

Checklist on eBird: https://ebird.org/checklist/S139064328
Count on Trektellen: https://trektellen.nl/count/view/3323/20230517

And 19 May saw even less migrants. We started at 05h50, but finished at 13h30, after witnessing an empty sea during the last hours of the seawatch. Still some cloudy periods, but now mostly sunny, with limited visibility, between 2 and 4 km. Hardly any wind: force 1 from the southeast.

Seabirds:
8 Red-necked Phalaropes
1 Short-tailed Shearwater

Terns:
2 Little Terns
5 Gull-billed Terns
1 Black-naped Tern
2 Common Terns
5 Greater Crested Terns

Swift(lets), swallows and martins:
1 House Swift

Checklist on eBird: https://ebird.org/checklist/S139065485
Count on Trektellen: https://trektellen.nl/count/view/3323/20230519

And there was no change for the better on 20 May, our last day. We started early again, at 05h50, but finished at 10h20. Sunnier now with only some scattered clouds. Still not much wind, with force 1 to 2 from the southeast.

Seabirds:
2 Short-tailed Shearwaters

Terns:
5 terns spec.
20 Bridled Terns
6 Aleutian Terns
4 Little Terns
2 Gull-billed Terns
10 White-winged Terns
4 Roseate Terns
36 Common Terns
8 Greater Crested Terns

Swift(lets), swallows and martins:
4 Pacific Swifts
1 Barn Swallow

Checklist on eBird: https://ebird.org/checklist/S139065975
Count on Trektellen: https://trektellen.nl/count/view/3323/20230520

Remarks

Well, that was a pretty good survey, as the month of May lived up to its reputation. Quite a few remarks to make.

Starting with record counts of Short-tailed Shearwaters on both 16th and 17th. We could only start seawatching on 16th from 11h40 and one of the first birds that appeared almost as soon as we started watching, was this species. A total of 38 was counted during this half day, a new high count for Hong Kong. The previous high count was 18 on 7 May 2022. Coincidently, we counted exactly 38 Short-tailed Shearwaters on the next day (17th) as well, but during a full day (11 hours and 55 minutes). Interesting, we counted half of that number – 19 – before 12pm and half after 12pm. I don’t claim we should double the count on 16th to 76, but with a very high degree of certainty can we say that a lot more than 38 passed Po Toi that day, probably between 50 and 80.

The sighting of more Bulwer’s Petrels, singles on 16th and 17th, is further confirmation that this is a scarce passage migrant and visitor to Hong Kong waters. May might be the best month to see them, and you don’t need a typhoon or even strong onshore winds.

Why have they not been seen from boat trips, you might wonder? Note that boat trips generally arrive off Po Toi around 8h15 and leave at around 13h00, depending on the routes they take. Below is a list of the times we’ve seen Bulwer’s Petrels while seawatching from Po Toi, plus one we saw from a boat (though not part of the organized seabird trips):

07h25
07h54
08h15
13h14
13h22
14h22
15h05
15h39

Indeed, we’ve never seen one between 08h15 and 13h14 either, exactly when the boats are in the area. Maybe we don’t have enough data to draw conclusion, but at least this seems interesting.

The Slaty-backed Gull on 16th is a new late date for Hong Kong, the previous late date being 22 April (source: Annotated Checklist of Hong Kong Birds July 2022). Although the bird clearly had the big and bulky appearance typical for this species, it was only after checking some more literature at home that I was sure of its identification: Third-winter/4th calendar year. Large and very bulky gull, heavy-bellied. Wings and back dark-grey; darker grey saddle, some brown tinge on the wings and clear sign of wing moult. Head whitish. Tail still with quite full dark markings.
Also on 16th, we counted 402 White-winged Terns. This is the highest count since we started our surveys in 2021, but the highest count ever on Po Toi was 490 on 5 May 2006.

On 18th, a very likely adult Sooty Tern flew by (see full comments on eBird or Trektellen). Most Sooty Terns in Hong Kong are juveniles. Although there are a few sightings of adults, both the Bird Reports and the Annotated Checklist mention “only juveniles”. Anyway, we should be more alert to adults, even on days with calm weather.

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May 2023

Let’s wrap-up May, using data from Trektellen. Like April this year, there was also only 1 survey, with 3 full days and 2 half/partial days. This resulted in total observation time of 41 hours and 35 minutes. Last year: 128 hours and 55 minutes.

I want to bring forward the subject of weather – namely wind direction and strength – to compare May 2022 with May 2023. Last year, we seawatched from 17 to 21, so there is some overlap (on 16 to 20). And the weather was different. In 2022, winds came mainly from the east and with force up to 5 bft. In 2023, there were mainly southeast winds with force 0 to 3. Let us compare both years when it comes to seabirds (i.e. pelagic or oceanic birds, including Red-necked Phalarope). Note, that birders in Hong Kong are favouring winds from the east, so let’s see what light winds from a different direction produced.

winds.jpg (86.97 KB)

27/06/2023 11:23

“>” means a change in wind direction.

Red-necked Phalarope: No clear impact of winds, with both higher or lower numbers in either east or southeast winds.

Parasitic Jaeger: Occurs in different wind direction. In other words, light southeasterly winds can be as good as stronger easterly winds.

Short-tailed Shearwater: Seems to do quite well in light southeasterly winds, much better than in easterly winds. But also, a day with light southeasterlies does not guarantee a lot of Short-tailed Shearwaters.

Streaked Shearwater: Doesn’t mind light southeasterly winds. But note the high number when winds blew from the northeast to the southeast on 20 May 2022. But these were light winds, not strong winds. On days with stronger easterly winds in 2022, none were seen.

Bulwer’s Petrel: Clearly prefers light southeasterly winds, based on these data. Note that the bird seen in 2022 also appeared at a moment of the day when winds were blowing from the southeast with force 2.

Red-footed Booby: Just one record in 2022, on a moment with force 3 northeasterly winds.

Brown Booby: Seen on days with easterly, southeasterly and southwesterly winds. Any way the wind blows, you could argue.

The least we can say is that not only (strong) easterly winds are the ones we should hope for. Light southeasterlies can be – based on our above table – just as good, and even better in some cases. Personally, I would go so far to say that I’ll rather want to be seawatching with light or moderate southeasterly winds than with strong easterly winds in May. But let’s see if the future can further confirm any of this.

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Summary of spring 2023

This is an overview of all (migrating) seabirds and all (migrating) terns and gulls seen during the spring (i.e. March, April and May) of 2023. Below are the totals for the whole season.

seabirds.jpg (137.94 KB)

27/06/2023 11:25

gulls terns.jpg (190.3 KB)

27/06/2023 11:25

Less surveys meant lower numbers and fewer species compared to last year. And all the surveys in March this year also produced much fewer birds overall.

We’ve commented on some of the highlights above and the spring season 2023 as a whole was not as good as last year, hence there are no further remarks to be made.