Plenty of activity offshore during the day with counts from a three hour seawatch first thing including a Great Skua, 20 Red-throated and a Great Northern Diver, a Black-throated Diver (considered a RtD by one observer) and a diver sp SW along with 101 Gannet, 40+ Kittiwake and five Fulmar.
Late afternoon a flock of five Scaup, four male (one considered to be a hybrid, perhaps with Lesser Scaup by some observers) and a female, were close inshore with two Great Northern Diver, two Arctic Skua were harrying gulls, c.30 Brent Geese sp flew into estuary from around Orcombe Point and heading SW, a female Velvet Scoter, 40 Gannet and a Manx Shearwater.
Counts from the estuary included c.60 Sandwich Tern, 26 Bar-tailed Godwit, 20 Dark and seven Pale-bellied Brent Geese, 17 Redshank, 15 Turnstone, 12 Knot, seven Eider, seven Red-breasted Merganser, six Great Crested Grebe, four Grey and a Ringed Plover, four Teal, four Whimbrel, two Greenshank and two winter plumaged Dunlin.
Elsewhere migrants included the Warren's earliest ever Grasshopper Warbler flushed on the Golf Course, the previous earliest date was 11th April 2004, with two Wheatear and a Willow Warbler on site, 16 Swallow, five Sand and three House Martin flew west and two Common Sandpiper were on the end of Warren Point.
Year list additions:
130. Common Sandpiper
131. Velvet Scoter
132. Arctic Skua
133. Grasshopper Warbler
Other Wildlife: Tough going in the strong southerly wind, even in the bright periods insects were keeping low, with just a few literally clinging on in the more sheltered areas. These included the first 10-spot Ladybird for the year in the Buffer Zone, a Common Carder Bee, a few Lesser Variable Bibio B. lanigerus, a lone Speckled Wood and a buffeted Red Admiral.
No comments:
Post a Comment