Soil Hill; Isolation week 1

As a result of the Coronavirus my plans for the spring and summer were all cancelled practically overnight, leaving me to return to Halifax to try and organise myself for the next few months. Fortunately, at least while this rather tame version of lockdown remains in place, I will be able to visit Soil Hill for my daily exercise. So heres a quick wrap up of events from the last week.
 The standout bird for the week was obviously a Jack Snipe which I flushed during the afternoon of the 31st March, my first here since March 2016. Now that the summit is overgrown, records of this species have all but dried up, so it was a nice change to be able to see another.
 On the second and third of April there was a large movement of Common Scoter overnight. I spent a couple of hours on the hill during these nights and recorded five flocks passing through. This coincided with large movements across the north of England, with lockdown birders recording big numbers. Common Scoter was a patch tick for me.
 I also had my second, and then quickly third, encounter with Collared Dove on Soil Hill, with two birds flying around the houses down near Ogden.
 Other notable birds were fairly thin on the ground, despite average species counts being high for the site. On average over the week species totals have reached between 25 - 35 species a day, depending on weather conditions. Little Owl has been a regular feature, which is always nice, as has Red-legged Partridge. There has been up to four Buzzards blogging around the hill at any one time, and Sparrowhawks were displaying one afternoon, presumably a breeding pair from the Ogden plantation. That aside, most species have been common garden birds, but its always nice to see them on any given day on the hill. As always, full species lists can be found on eBird. 

-Jack Snipe

Species List:

Soil Hill: Canada Goose, Mallard, Common Scoter, Red-legged Partridge, Common Pheasant, Rock Dove, Stock Dove, Common Wood Pigeon, Eurasian Collared Dove, Common Moorhen, Northern Lapwing, Eurasian Curlew, Jack Snipe, Common Snipe, Mew Gull, European Herring Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Grey Heron, Eurasian Sparrowhawk, Common Buzzard, Little Owl, Common Kestrel, Eurasian Magpie, Western Jackdaw, Rook, Carrion Crow, Coal Tit, Eurasian Blue Tit, Great Tit, Eurasian Skylark, Eurasian Wren, Common Starling, Mistle Thrush, Song Thrush, Common Blackbird, Fieldfare, European Robin, Dunnock, House Sparrow, White Wagtail, Meadow Pipit, Common Chaffinch, European Greenfinch, Common Linnet, European Goldfinch, European Rabbit, Roe Deer, Red Fox, Stoat,