Most notable local bird today was an Oystercatcher calling as it flew over in low cloud. I occasionally hear the species (presumably on passage) at the beginning and end of the breeding season but this seems a strange date. Otherwise, birds were fairly limited, the deterioration in the weather silencing many of the regular singing birds. Beyond my local square, a walk along to Hawkhead Estate Park produced at least three Swifts (my first of the year) feeding over some riverside trees in the company of two Swallows and at least three Sand Martins. A Pied Wagtail was on the rocks at the bend in the river near there. As I type, the rain is teeming down outside - a sound I haven't heard for a month or more.