7th and 8th October


A truly horrendous day on the 7th to perfectly coincide with the now annual Bird Observatory Bird Race with force 8 SW winds and hard, stinging, driving rain pretty much throughout the whole day; we managed a very respectable 74 species through the day considering the challenging conditions with the bird of the day going incredibly to a Robin found behind one of the few sheltered walls on the island – that in itself is the ideal illustration of the autumn so far!   Other bits through the day included a Heron, 2 Whooper Swans, a Pintail, a Red-breasted Merganser, single Peregrine and Kestrel, 2 Jack Snipe, a Black-tailed Godwit, the late Arctic Tern still lingering on Gretchen, a Swallow, 10 Wheatears, single Fieldfare and Song Thrush and 7 Bramblings which amazingly appeared to come in late in the day.

                A decent day on the 8th with much, much lighter winds and dry conditions through until more rain moved in late afternoon; wildfowl were on the move through the day as totals included 91 Pink-footed Geese, 424 Greylag Geese, 33 Barnacle Geese, a single Pale-bellied Brent Goose and 127 Wigeon.   Much improved landbird totals comprised a Hen Harrier, a Kestrel, 2 Merlin, 2 Peregrine, the first Woodpigeon of the autumn, 128 Skylark, 4 Swallows, 248 Meadow Pipits, 15 Rock Pipits, 10 Wheatears, 52 Blackbirds, 5 Fieldfares, 120 Redwing, 2 Blackcap, a Willow Warbler, 8 Brambling, the first 2 Goldfinches of the autumn, a Lapland Bunting and 23 Snow Buntings.

Redwing




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