29th and 30th April
While the discovery of potentially the UK’s first RED-WINGED
BLACKBIRD naturally took the
headlines and much of our time in the afternoon of the 29th there
were also a few other birds of note found in the morning of the 29th. It did seem we had just swapped a very
strong, cold northerly wind for a very strong, cold south-easterly wind over
the last couple of days but with it came the hope of some spring
migrants...however the only addition to our year list was a Pochard on Hooking!
Other
birds seen though included 11 Barnacle Geese, a pair of Common Scoter past the
seawatch hide (always a scarce bird on here), a Merlin, a little influx of 9 Arctic
Terns, 4 Swallows, the Black Redstart still at the lighthouse, 17 Wheatears, a
Siskin, a Lapland Bunting and 10 Snow Buntings
Barnacle Geese, photo Simon Davies
The RED-WINGED
BLACKBIRD was quickly re-found first
thing in the morning of the 30th and from then on we went into full
visitor mode, catering for the high numbers of birders which made the journey
up to see our new star attraction – everything went well and everyone had good
views of the bird!
While
this different focus for the Obs staff perhaps meant that we didn’t cover the
rest of the island as well as we would have liked, the extra eyes produced an
array of year list additions which, when coupled with the slackening wind and
increased sunshine, made for an excellent days birding; single Redstart, Lesser Whitethroat, Sedge Warbler,
Garden Warbler and House Martin were all firsts for the
year while the 6 Canada Geese by The
Mill also crept onto the list but were not your stereotypical spring migrants!
Other
migrants freshly arrived included single Kestrel and Sparrowhawk, a Jack Snipe,
a Short-eared Owl, 7 Sand Martins, 15 Swallows, a Blackcap, 7 Willow Warblers
and 4 Chiffchaffs while other totals of note comprised 2 Great-northern Divers,
a Barnacle Goose, the pair of Garganey still, 6 Black-tailed Godwits, 6
Whimbrel, 10 Arctic Terns, 59 Wheatears, 2 Song Thrush and 9 Snow Buntings.
Black Redstart, photo Simon Davies
Wren
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