A calm, bright morning with mist offshore saw a good movement of birds and a handful of migrants on the land. Over eight hours of seawatching produced 284 Brent Geese, two Shoveler, a Gadwall, ten Teal, four Eider, two Velvet Scoter, 1162 Common Scoters, eight Red-breasted Mergansers, 43 Whimbrel, 430 Bar-tailed Godwits, 20 Little Gulls, four Mediterranean Gulls, 304 Sandwich Terns, four Little Terns, two Great Skuas, 26 Arctic Skuas and a Black-throated Diver. A Little Egret also flew south. Of note on the land were at least seven Buzzards, two House Martins, four Lesser Whitethroats, two Ring Ouzels, three Yellow Wagtails and a Siskin.
Ten Porpoises and a Grey Seal were feeding offshore.
A Brimstone butterfly was seen at the Long Pits and a Box Bug was found in the Trapping Area.
There was also excitement elsewhere with a Black-winged Stilt found at Dengemarsh along with the two regular Glossy Ibis and a smart breeding plumage Spotted Redshank.
Glossy Ibis Himantopus himantopus Dengemarsh, RSPB 22nd April 2023 Very distant views. |
Glossy Ibis Plegadis falcinellus Dengemarsh, RSPB 22nd April 2023 |