12th and 13th August
Bright sunshine through
the 12th with a promising easterly breeze but it was a fairly quiet
day in the field with no real landbird arrivals although the first Merlin of the autumn was dashing around and a female Crossbill at Ancum finally made it onto the yearlist; other
birds on the land included a Black Redstart, the two over-summering Fieldfares
and the juvenile Hen Harrier.
Wader counts through the day comprised 777 Golden Plover,
114 Lapwing, 119 Sanderling, 169 Dunlin, 3 Ruff, 2 Whimbrel, 89 Curlew and 160
Redshank while there were still 915+ Arctic Terns present around the island and
4 Risso’s Dolphins were off the east side.
With light easterlies and some cloud cover coming and
going on the 13th it was classic conditions for the first decent
birding day of the autumn which started early with a beautiful, fresh juvenile Common Nightingale
plucked out of a mist-net at Holland House – an odd record as it was only the
eighth record for the island and just the second in autumn. The day carried on at its relaxed but
exciting pace with the first Icterine Warbler of the
year at Hooking and the first Barred Warbler of the year at North
Gravity.
A good sprinkling of other migrants across the island
comprised 26 Black-tailed Godwits on Ancum, 4 Ruff, the Hen Harrier, the
Kestrel, the Merlin, a big female Peregrine, the Short-eared Owl, a new island
record count of 64 Sand Martins in the Ancum area, 2 Black Redstarts, 48
Wheatears, a very juvenile looking Song Thrush trapped in Holland, 8 Sedge
Warblers, a Garden Warbler, 8 Willow Warblers and a Pied Flycatcher.
Nightingale Simon Davies
A packed Linnet nest
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