28th and 29th April
A glorious couple of days
with long spells of pure, warm, unbroken sunshine and the faintest waft of a
breeze; the only down side of the stunning conditions is that it’s not really conducive
to large numbers of grounded migrants.
The male Grey-headed Wagtail was re-found on the beach at Brides on the 28th
while other migrants included a White Wagtail, a Dunnock, 62 Wheatears, 2
Redwings, 2 Lesser Whitethroats, 4 Chiffchaffs and 2 Common Redpoll.
Lingering or departing wildfowl comprised the Whooper
Swan, 2 new immature Mute Swans, a Pink-footed Goose, 5 new Barnacle Geese and
9 Pintail while waders included 4 Knot, 170 Purple Sandpipers, a Whimbrel and a
much improved 442 Turnstone with many rapidly acquiring their stunning breeding
plumage. One of last years successful
breeding Arctic Skuas was back on Torness (the affectionately named ‘notchy’ –
a dark phase bird with a distinctive notch out of one of her wings), the two
usual pairs of Bonxies were also back patrolling their traditional breeding
spots and the first Black-headed Gull eggs were noted.
An even more stunning day on the 29th but
it was also an even quieter day in the field as a result; migrants included a
Sparrowhawk, a Woodpigeon, 6 Sand Martins, 10 Swallows, a Rock Pipit, 2 White
Wagtails, a Dunnock, 44 Wheatears, 2 Blackcaps and a Brambling. Seven Arctic Terns were offshore and the Kumlien’s Gull was seen once again – although the longer
the spring goes on, the more bleached and pale this bird is becoming, if you
saw it new now, you’d be hard pushed to call it a Kumlien’s!
Bonxie Simon Davies
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