Reed Bunts On The Move

I was back at the Obs this morning and it was calm enough for ringing, but based on last night's forecast I hadn't bothered getting any gear ready! I had virtually clear skies this morning with a light southwesterly wind. The visibility was nowhere near as good as yesterday and the views this morning weren't of Lakeland and Welsh mountains, but of murk and grey clouds!

 Small Tortoiseshell

I couldn't detect any grounded migrants this morning, or nothing obvious at least, except perhaps for a few more Dunnocks. Robin, Wren and Blackbird numbers seemed similar to yesterday. There was some vis this morning but that virtually stopped by 9:15 am when the cloud cover to the north thickened. However one noticeable feature of the vis this morning compared to yesterday was a few more Reed Buntings on the move. My vis totals were six Chaffinches, 41 Jackdaws, 103 Meadow Pipits, thirteen Alba Wags, a Grey Wagtail, nine Reed Buntings, a Carrion Crow, four Goldfinches, nine Greenfinches, eight Linnets, 640 Pink-footed Geese, five Skylarks and a Rock Pipit.

 Chaffinch

Walking through the dunes near the Japanese Rose patch I had a nice mixed flock of three Reed Bunts, eight Mipits, a Chaffinch and seven Greenfinches all perched on the fence. Shortly after they dropped in they lifted up in to the sky and headed off south. Migration in action!

Greenfinch

  Meadow Pipit

 Reed Bunting

On the sea I had six Auk sp., five Cormorants, a Red-throated Diver, eight Sandwich Terns, 16 Common Scoters and a Guillemot. I usually have a few Kestrels around the Obs, but not this morning, a male Sparrowhawk was flying the raptor flag instead.

 Woodpigeon

Back home a check of my moth trap produced two Angle Shades, a Silver Y and a Red-line Quaker. Unfortunately I won't be out birding tomorrow as I have some work to catch up on but I will be running my moth trap so I will blog briefly if I catch anything in that.

Angle Shades