Sightings January 2006
1st Plenty of Red-throated Divers, Great Crested Grebes and Guillemots offshore but not a great deal else to be seen.
2nd A party of three Firecrests and a Chiffchaff were seen at the Long Pits. Three Velvet Scoters also flew west in the morning.
3rd The highlight of an otherwise very quiet sea was a male Long-tailed Duck flying west. There was also an adult Mediterranean Gull at the Patch.
4th An adult Mediterranean Gull at the Patch was the only bird of note.
6th A Short-eared Owl was seen in the Desert and an escaped falconer's bird, believed to be a Lanner Falcon, flew through.
9th Masses of gulls at the Patch including a first-winter Caspian Gull, a first-winter Yellow-legged Gull and an adult Mediterranean Gull.
10th Gull numbers continue to increase with at least 2000 Black-headed Gulls, 2000 Common Gulls and 5000 Herring Gulls at the Patch but the only birds of special note that could be found amongst them were three Mediterranean Gulls.
11th Most of the day was spent watching gulls as numbers continue to build up. The highlights were a first-winter Glaucous Gull at the Patch for a few minutes in the afternoon and a minimum of five first-winter Caspian Gulls. The latter were all roosting near the lighthouse during the worst of the weather in the morning. Also of note was an apparent first-winter Glaucous x Herring Gull hybrid and three Mediterranean Gulls. Sheer numbers were provided by at least 3500 Black-headed Gulls, 2500 Common Gulls, 7000 Herring Gulls, 500 Great Black-backed Gulls and 200 Kittiwakes.
12th Still large numbers of gulls at the Patch but the only birds of note were an adult Mediterranean Gull and a first-winter Yellow-legged Gull.
13th Still large numbers of gulls offshore but viewing conditions very difficult and the only bird of note was an adult Mediterranean Gull.
15th Another first-winter Caspian Gull was found at the fishing boats in the afternoon and an adult Mediterranean Gull was seen at the Patch.

Caspian Gull
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A check of the bushes around the Long Pits produced a Cetti's Warbler, a Chiffchaff, two Firecrests and two Bullfinches.

16th The miserable weather continues and gull watching remains the order of the day. An adult and another first-winter Caspian Gull were found amongst the melee of gulls feeding close inshore at the fishing boats. A second-winter Mediterranean Gull and a first-winter Yellow-legged Gull were also present.
17th The only birds of note were a Peregrine Falcon over the Observatory and an adult Mediterranean Gull at the Patch but there were still huge numbers of gulls offshore.

The Patch
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18th A Merlin was hunting in the area and a Mistle Thrush was singing near the Observatory.
19th The only bird of note today was a Firecrest at the northern end of the Long Pits.
20th An adult Mediterranean Gull feeding off the fishing boats and a Black Redstart were the only notable birds.
21st A sudden return to the high numbers of gulls at the Patch included three first-winter Caspian Gulls and the regular adult Mediterranean Gull.

Two Chiffchaffs were also seen in the area.

22nd The highlights of the day were a Little Egret which came in from the south west and a flock of about 150 White-fronted Geese which flew over the area. Despite the presence of around 10,000 gulls at the Patch the only notable birds here were two Mediterranean Gulls. There were also large numbers of auks offshore including a reasonable number of Razorbills.
23rd A second-winter Mediterranean Gull at the Patch and a Fieldfare were the only notable birds.
24th Very quiet with a Fieldfare at the Observatory and a Chiffchaff at the Long Pits being the only notable records.
25th Very quiet again with two Fieldfares being the only noteworthy birds.
26th A few Red-throated Divers and Gannets flew east otherwise it was very quiet.
27th A Red-necked Grebe flew east in the morning in increasingly wintry conditions.
28th Overnight snow and an increasing, bitterly cold east wind made observations very difficult. There were thousands of gulls at the Patch again but the only bird of note that could be found was an adult Mediterranean Gull.
29th A Barn Owl was flushed from one of the out buildings on the Point and an adult Mediterranean Gull was feeding offshore.
30th A long look at the masses of gulls at the Patch eventually revealed a first-winter Caspian Gull along with two adult Mediterranean Gulls. A Red-necked Grebe also flew east.
31st A third-winter Caspian Gull and an adult Mediterranean Gull were seen at the Patch. A Dartford Warbler was seen in one of the gardens.