A very different three days of weather with the 16th being by the best. The 14th however was much the same as the previous two but despite the lack of change it did bring a few new birds. Two Brambling remained around the obs and were still being tailed by the female Chaffinch which was still present on the 16th. A ringtail Hen Harrier, a Merlin and a male Peregrine were causing varying amounts of panic throughout wader and wildfowl flocks around the island. Perhaps the oddest bird, not for its rarity value but just sheer oddity was a melanistic Greylag at Holme, across the road on the Cauldhame Flash was a lone
Ruff and the highlight of the day were three
Garganey that appeared in off the sea and settled around Hooking.
The 15th saw the weather take a nasty turn with freezing north-westerlies and the late afternoon bought squalls off the sea, less than ideal for birds thinking about breeding! It didn't do too much to dampen the spirits of the birds though, the Pink-footed Geese still remained on the island with no less than 5 seen, 22 Black-tailed Godwits were on Gretchen throughout the day as were 6 Sandwich Terns and the Green-winged Teal made another cameo. Lastly a
Willow Warbler and a Chiffchaff were hanging around out of the wind below the school.
The 16th was in stark contrast to the previous day in terms of weather, after a brief shower in the morning we were treated to unbroken sunshine and light breeze that would later turn into the North-east. The clear weather prompted a movement in the corvids as 11
Rook, 9
Carrion Crow, 2
Jackdaw and 21 Hooded Crows were all seen moving South. Wheatear numbers also peaked with an increase of over 70 birds overnight pushing the day total to 108. Two Swallow and 11
Sand Martin were seen over Brides, up to 3 Brambling were around the obs and Holland as was a Chiffchaff that found its way into the nets. Redwing numbers also rose to 130. The most frustrating moment of the day came when 3
Bean Geese headed South over Holland but as they're now two species we won't be including on the year list as they couldn't be raced! The weather over the next few days looks interesting so we'll keep you posted.
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| Garganey |
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| Another Golden Plover |
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| Melanistic Greylag |
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