Vis

Vis was the order of the day this morning. The wind had dropped overnight and shifted a little bit more to the east to become southeasterly, but unfortunately it was a little too stiff for us to do any ringing at the obs; instead I had a walk round.

As soon as I set off there were birds on the move. My walk took me just under two hours and I was trying to 'work' the bushes, listen out for vis and then keep an eye on the sea when I got to the sea front. I think what I am trying to say is that there was probably a lot more on the move than I recorded due to the aforementioned excuses! My vis totals (all south) included 3 Grey Wagtail, 192 Meadow Pipits, 46 Linnets, 6 Alba Wags, 35 Chaffinch and 23 Swallows.

Grounded birds were restricted to 8 Robins, 5 Blackbirds, 7 Wrens and a single Wheatear. The sea was exceptionally quiet with just 8 Common Scoters recorded in my notebook. Out on the shore I had a few Turnstones feeding along the top of the groynes and looking for invertebrates on the side and a Bar-tailed Godwit that flew through was a nice distraction.

Turnstones feeding on a groyne

I've inserted a picture of the 'humble' fence post below with it's rusty strands of barbed wire because as I walked past the numerous fence posts at the obs it got me thinking how essential they are for migrants to perch on, particularly chats! If I could be bothered and was sad enough I could probably come up with a fence post list. Perhaps the local bird club could have a Fence Post Yearlist Challenge where members were encouraged to submit lists of all the species they see in a year perched on posts!

Talking of birds perching on fence posts I had a cracking adult male Sparrowhawk perched on one this  morning. It was in absolutely stunning plumage and was virtually blue and orange; it was that good!