9th-12th July
Bright conditions on the 9th provided good
sea-watching conditions in the morning, 6 Manx Shearwaters, 4 Sooty Shearwaters,
7 Storm Petrels, 2831 Puffin and 5 Common Scoter made for an interesting couple
of hours.
The Kittiwakes have continued to hang around despite
gradually lowering in numbers with the total now down to 275 birds. A pair of
Fieldfares are still hanging around the Gue Park area and at least 3
Chiffchaffs have spent their summer in the gardens at Holland House. The highlight for the 9th was undoubtedly a Summer plumaged Black-throated Diver that flew past the Beacon.
The 10th and 11th saw a band of thick
wet fog roll in making for challenging birding conditions, but also some
promising signs, our first 5 fledged Swallows of the year have boosted totals
nicely. A pair of Whimbrels on the island were a welcome addition and Reed
Buntings have also started to emerge with 14 on the 11th.
The 12th saw the fog lift and with the silage cut
an inevitable increase in waders, Oystercatcher numbers climbed to over 200, a
lone Ruff on Garso was a nice highlight, as was another Whimbrel and a very
smart summer plumaged Bar-tailed Godwit in a flock of 27 birds.
The Common Tern re-appeared on Bewan with the Arctic Terns
and Sandwich Tern was in with the depleting Kittiwake flock between the
Sea-watch hide and Foghorn. Sea-watching again provided some entertainment, 6
Sooty Shearwaters, 4 Manx Shearwaters, 2 Storm Petrels and another flock of
Common Scoter, this time consisting of 7 birds. A quick Sand Martin netting
attempt managed 4 birds, excitingly two re-traps proved to be returning
breeding adults for 2017! Finally our first Storm Petrel ringing session of the
year gave us an early catch on 19 new birds and 1 re-trap.
 |
| Arctic Terns posing George Gay |
 |
| Sedge Warbler George Gay |
 |
| Bar-tailed Godwit George Gay |
Comments