1st and 2nd October
The wind dropped off overnight to leave a pleasant
morning on the 1st - well for a few hours anyway as it picked up
rapidly through the morning to reach force 7 by lunchtime! A moulting drake Green-winged Teal was picked out on Gretchen
(probably the returning bird from the last couple of winters) and was in the
company of a late juvenile Garganey while
lingering scarcities today just comprised an Olive-backed Pipit at Longar and the Red-breasted Flycatcher re-trapped in Holland.
With
the gap in the weather overnight and the first few hours of the morning it was
no surprise that the numbers of grounded migrants were slightly reduced from
the last few days but totals did include a Woodpigeon, a House Martin, 13
Swallows, 13 Robins, 26 Wheatears, 4 Fieldfares, 26 Song Thrushes, 3 Redwings, a
Lesser Whitethroat, 2 Garden Warblers, 12 Blackcap, a Yellow-browed Warbler, 22
Chiffchaffs, 8 Willow Warblers, 2 Goldcrest, 3 Spotted Flycatchers, 16
Chaffinches, 3 Brambling, 10 Siskins, a Common Redpoll, 6 Lapland Buntings and
the Yellowhammer again.
Heron
A
very windy morning on the 2nd gave way to an extremely windy
afternoon with a blazing SW wind bringing frequent and vicious showers whipping
across the island; needless to say, it made any time spent in the field very
challenging but many people did brave the conditions and produced a variety of
birds with the first notable passage of 559 Pink-footed Geese of special
mention with the first Scaup of the year on
Ancum, 3 Red-breasted Mergansers, the juvenile Garganey
still, 2 Red-throated Divers, a Great-northern Diver, 4 Little Stints and a
Grey Plover.
The
selection of grounded migrants consisted of lingering birds with unsurprisingly
no new arrivals detected but did include a Barred Warbler still around the Obs, a
Woodpigeon, 4 Swallows, a Tree Pipit, a Dunnock, 6 Robins, 6 Redstarts, a
Whinchat, 32 Wheatears, a Fieldfare, 32 Song Thrushes, 4 Redwings, 4 Blackcaps,
a Yellow-browed Warbler, 12 Chiffchaffs, 3 Willow Warblers, 2 Goldcrests, a
Spotted Flycatcher, 21 Chaffinches, 3 Bramblings, 3 Siskins, a Lapland Bunting,
6 Snow Buntings and the Yellowhammer again.
Chaffinch
photos Simon Davies
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