17th and 18th March
Still very windy in the
morning of the 17th, with the bitter SE wind bringing snow showers
sweeping across the island but it did brighten up during the afternoon and the
wind did slacken very slightly; there were however, some little increases in
landbirds across the island including 4 Woodpigeons, 2 Dunnocks, 10 Robins, the
Wheatear, 64 Fieldfare, 6 Song Thrushes, a good 7 Mistle Thrushes (just short of the island
record of 10!), a Chaffinch, 3 Woodcock, 2 Hen Harriers and a Merlin.
Other birds through the day comprised 2 Whooper
Swans, 6 Shelduck, 121 Teal, the Green-winged Teal
again, 13 Pintail, 9 Shoveler, 7 Red-breasted Mergansers and the Kumlien’s Gull still.
Although the wind was still chilly and still in the
SE it had dropped away to practically nothing which, when combined with the
wall to wall sunshine led to a lovely day to be out and about; this fine
weather didn’t really equate to an increase in birds though, as birds on the
land included 2 Woodcock, 32 Skylarks, 2 Pied Wagtails, 2 Dunnock, 5 Mistle
Thrushes and 9 Reed Buntings.
There was little else to shout about but 46
Long-tailed Ducks was a notable increase along with 8 Goldeneye, the Smew again, the Kumlien’s Gull yet again, 74 Dunlin and a
Knot.
Black-headed Gull
Robin
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