Wednesday 10 May 2017

A Few Arrivals

Sunday morning saw me wandering around the farm fields again at the southern end of the Obs recording area. I had clear skies and it was calm at first but a 5 mph NE wind picked up from 0805.

The usual Chiffie and Whitethroats were holding territory, but it did seem as if there had been a few arrivals just based on the increase in the number of singing Sedge Warblers. On my walk round I recorded 16, and there certainly isn't enough habitat to support this number of breeding pairs in this area. One of the Sedge Warblers was doing some mimicry throwing Reed Warbler, Linnet and Goldfinch in to his set list! Three Wheatears by the sea wall added to the feeling that I had of there being a few arrivals.

 Wheatear

Conditions were suitable for some vis and I recorded (all north) a Goldfinch, thirteen Lesser Redpolls, 99 Swallows, two Swifts, a Sand Martin, two Tree Pipits, five House Martins, a Linnet, two Siskins, a Yellow Wagtail and an Alba Wag.

There was a bit of movement over the glass like sea, but the murky conditions/heat haze didn't help. Of interest entered into my notebook were 1200 Knots, five Shelducks, eight Sandwich Terns, eight Gannets, four Whimbrels, four Dunlins, ten Kittiwakes, six Sanderlings, two Ringed Plovers, 102 Common Scoters, a Common Tern, twelve Eiders, two Canada Geese, four Arctic Terns, three Red-throated Divers and five Auk sp. I also got good 'scope views of a Harbour Porpoise slowly heading north. At times it was very active and you could see that it was chasing prey close to the surface!

 Canada Goose

I joined Ian mid-morning in the coastal park where he had found a singing Wood Warbler. I don't know how many pictures I took trying to get just one half decent shot of this very showy bird, but I failed! In addition to the Wood Warbler were a Chiffchaff, a Willow Warbler, a Garden Warbler and a Whitethroat.

 Wood Warbler (above & below - honest!)



We then both had a look in the cemetery where there was another Wood Warbler! This bird too was very showy and I failed yet again to get any record shots even! There was also a Spotted Flycatcher, another Garden Warbler and three Willow Warblers. So definitely a few arrivals this morning!

Meadow Pipit

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