14th April

A wet and windy morning with a prolonged spell of rain at lunchtime before clearing up for the afternoon produced a good and varied arrival of birds; there was however still a distinctly wintry feel in the composition with Thrushes - 76 Blackbirds, 36 Fieldfares, 157 Redwings, 8 Song Thrushes and 6 Mistle Thrushes, 6 Woodcocks and 18 Snow Buntings prominent. Other migrants included 2 Sparrowhawks, a Merlin, the first Ring Ouzel of the year, 218 Meadow Pipits, a Wheatear, 3 Chiffchaffs, 14 Dunnocks, 22 Robins and a Collared Dove. With increased coverage of the island today some high counts of waders and gulls were achieved - especially on the east coast feeding at high tide which included 188 Golden Plover, 326 Purple Sandpiper, 897 Turnstone, 527 Black-headed Gulls, 451 Common Gulls and 202 Great Black-backed Gulls.

Turnstones