9th - 11th August
Bright and sunny conditions
on the 9th with a brisk southerly breeze produced a good morning’s
visible migration with 302 Swallows the main feature of the
day (171 went south from 0830-0930 – it was brilliant to see small flocks of
Swallows heading out to sea, threading their way through a big feeding flock of
Arctic Terns just off The Lurn!), also on the move were 6 Swifts and several
small flocks of Dunlin, Redshank and Sanderling. Other birds through the day included 2 Manx
Shearwaters off the north end, a Heron, the Kestrel still, 4 Ruff and 13
Black-tailed Godwits at the airstrip, one of the lingering Roseate Terns still, at least 23 Arctic
Skuas blogging offshore chasing the Terns and Tysties and an improved count of
54 alba Wagtails with numbers swelled by many juveniles.
Still warm and settled on the 10th with a
couple of notable new arrivals with now 4 Mediterranean Gulls present (three in the Brides
area and another up at the north end) and the first Hen Harrier of the autumn cruising
around – a fine, fresh juvenile female.
Other little bits comprised the Kestrel, an increase to 25 Knot including
the first few spangly juveniles, 2 Whimbrel, 23 Black-tailed Godwits, a
Greenshank and 2 Sandwich Terns with 550+ Arctic Terns.
Yet another stunning day on the 11th with a
couple of heavy morning showers giving way to wall to wall sunshine and light
winds (getting a bit repetitive now!); 2 Great-northern Divers were offshore,
the Hen Harrier was still floating around, 4 Ruff were still present, a
Short-eared Owl was quartering Ancum and 3 Black Redstarts popped up.
Black-tailed Godwit Simon Davies
Swift Simon Davies
Arctic Skua Simon Davies
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