14th and 15th July
Another nice day on the 14th apart from the
freshening westerly breeze but due to late night Storm Petrel ringing and
mist-netting adult Black Guillemots during the day coverage was slightly
reduced; the nets at Holland first thing produced a surprise juvenile Robin
(there hasn’t been a Robin seen on the island for over a month and I’m not even
going to speculate where it’s come from!).
Other
birds of note included the Black-throated
Diver still in the bay, at least 2
Red-necked Phalaropes still on Gretchen and one of the over-summering
Chiffchaffs still.
The surprise Robin!
Heavy,
persistent rain that arrived in the morning of the 15th and lasted
for most of the day formed another excuse for reduced coverage of the island
but we were glad for a little break from the fine weather giving us a rest from
the breeding bird work and letting us undertake some indoor work for a
change!
The
first Green Sandpiper of the autumn
(and only the second of the year) was flying round Ancum Loch where there were
also 2 Red-necked Phalaropes – the
first time this year that they have been seen away from Gretchen (where there
were still three present) and given the turnover of birds its anyone’s guess
whether they represent new passage individuals or are part of the recent flock
of five. There were large numbers of
birds roosting and feeding in the cut grass fields around the centre of the
island which included 235 Oystercatchers, 600 Golden Plover, 120 Lapwings, 16
Bar-tailed Godwits and 65 Curlew.
A
bit of a surprise late in the evening was the reappearance of the adult summer White-winged Black
Tern in amongst 3,000+ Arctic Terns on the rocks near the dwindling
colony at Iris Taing – it was a real sense of Déjà vu, with the bird just
showing briefly to one (the same!) observer who was out late at night before
disappearing before anyone else could catch up with it! Also seen as we were out chasing Terns was a
decent roost of 60+ Pied Wagtails at Ancum.
Storm Petrel
Tysties getting excited!
and a hatching Fulmar, photos Simon Davies
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