Friday, 16th September 2016

After calm, settled conditions over the last few days this morning broke with a force seven northerly! Northerly winds generally are not very productive here but from dawn there was a steady movement of birds flying west out of the bay. A cracking juvenile pale morph Long-tailed Skua was without doubt the highlight of the mornings seawatching. The bird was picked up coming in from the NW, hitting the point, then veering east to Kings Scar and then slowly flying back west into the Irish Sea.

Offshore

24 Wigeons west, 7 Teal west, 5 Pintails west, 231 Common Scoters west, 3 Red-throated Divers west, 12 Gannets west, 1 Great Crested Grebe west, 3 Arctic Skuas west, 1 juv. pale morph Long-tailed Skua (see above), 3 Kittiwakes west, 42 Sandwich Terns west, 1 Black Tern west, 6 Guillemots west, 1 Razorbill west and 16 Auk sp. west.

Visible Migration

2 Grey Wagtails south, 5 Alba Wagtails south and 40 Meadow Pipits south.

Grounded Migrants

1 Wheatear.

Others 

2 Little Egrets, 8 Golden Plovers, 420 Lapwings, 125 Ringed Plovers, 4 Black-tailed Godwits, 240 Turnstones, 150 Knots, 90 Sanderlings,1 Purple Sandpiper, 475 Redshanks and 2 Med. Gulls.

 

 Small Tortoiseshell

Grey Plover

Song Thrush