14th - 16th August

Drizzle and rain drifted in and out through the day on the 14^th with the light SE wind swinging round into the SW; despite these promising conditions there was no sign of any more drifty landbirds after yesterday’s arrivals with the highlights again being the two Roseate Terns showing well at the foghorn and one of the juvenile Mediterranean Gulls offshore at Bewan.   Other birds included a trickle of hirundines down the west coast comprising 140 Swallows, the first House Martin of the autumn and 6 Swifts, the Hen Harrier and Kestrel again, a Ruff, good high tide counts at the north end of 42 Purple Sandpipers and 247 Turnstone and 4 Willow Warblers the only leftovers from yesterday.

                The 15^th and 16^th then passed with barely a ripple as sunny conditions and a brisk SW wind were not conducive to producing many new arrivals; 5 Ruff were with 1,200+ Golden Plover in the Kirbest area, the Kestrel remained, the first juvenile Bar-tailed Godwits of the autumn sneaked in and the 2 Roseate Terns were again by the foghorn on the 16^th.

Roseate Tern                                                Simon Davies

Hen Harrier                                            Simon Davies