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| The 2006 Annual Report is now available and costs £7.50 (inc. p&p) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1st | Two Mediterranean Gulls were feeding at the Patch and three Stonechats and a Fieldfare were seen near the Observatory. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2nd | A
small arrival of migrants on the land during the
morning with three Woodcocks, two Grey
Wagtails, four Stonechats, eight Redwings
and 13 Chaffinches of note.
There were at least 700 Great Crested Grebes feeding of the fishing boats in the morning. |
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| 3rd | The
highlight of the day was a pair of Wood Larks
which frequented areas of short turf to the east
of the southern Long Pits, roughly opposite the
Pumphouse. Other land migrants were scarce but a Grey
Wagtail and five Chaffinches flew over.
The flock of Turnstones feeding at the fishing boats increased to 108 birds and there were at least 200 Great Crested Grebes feeding offshore. |
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| 4th | A cold and at times wintry day produced two Sandwich Terns at the Patch and seven Stonechats and two Chiffchaffs on the land. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 5th | Not
a great deal to be seen on the land except for
eight Stonechats and two Chiffchaffs
and the Pied Wagtail roost held at least
205 birds this evening.
Two Mediterranean Gulls were feeding at the Patch. |
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| 6th | The
only significant migrants were a Grey Wagtail,
a Rock Pipit, a couple of Redwings
and seven Stonechats.
An adult Mediterranean Gull was feeding at the Patch. |
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| 7th | A Black Redstart and five Stonechats were seen on the land and a few Brent Geese flew east offshore. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 8th | A Great Skua and three Sandwich Terns were seen offshore. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 9th | The
highlight of the day was the finding of four
different first-winter Caspian Gulls at the
Patch during the morning (two birds shown). A
first-winter Yellow-legged Gull and two Sandwich
Terns were also present.
There was also a steady easterly flow of Brent Geese with 1345 birds seen up to 1030hrs along with a Great Northern Diver, a Black-necked Grebe, a Pintail, an Eider and 28 Common Scoters.
There was also a small arrival of birds on the land with a Merlin, 18 Redwings, a Mistle Thrush, two Firecrests and 46 Chaffinches of note. |
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| 10th | Storm force winds and frequent heavy rain made observations of anywhere other than the sea virtually impossible, and even here it was difficult to see beyond the waves. Several hours watching during the morning did however produce seven Great Skuas and an Arctic Skua and an adult Mediterranean Gull. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 11th | Still
very windy (but not as bad as yesterday).
Seawatching was uninspiring with just two Velvet
Scoters and four Red-breasted Mergansers
and an adult Mediterranean Gull offshore
and a Sandwich Tern roosting near the
fishing boats.
A handful of migrants on the land included a Woodcock, a Grey Wagtail, eight Chiffchaffs and two Firecrests. Also of note, a juvenile/first-winter Iceland Gull was seen on the Reserve. |
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| 12th | Yesterdays
juvenile/first-winter Iceland Gull made
several appearances during the day amongst a large
flock of gulls feeding along the tideline at the
fishing boats but very little else was to be seen
other than a rubicola-type Stonechat
and seven Chiffchaffs.
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| 13th | The
Iceland Gull continued to be seen on
several occasions during the day at the fishing
boats where a Sandwich Tern was also seen.
There were also a few birds of interest on the land including a Rock Pipit, nine Chiffchaffs, two Firecrests and a Brambling. |
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| 14th | There
was a small arrival of migrants on the land with a
Short-eared Owl in the Desert, a White
Wagtail, a Dartford Warbler near the
Observatory and 20 Chiffchaffs and ten Firecrests
scattered across the recording area. There were
also eight Stonechats including one of the
race rubicola and three Siskins flew
over.
There were two adult Mediterranean Gulls and a Sandwich Tern at the Patch but there was no sign of the Iceland Gull. |
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| 15th | At
last, after a miserable night and early morning SE
winds there was a significant easterly movement of
birds at sea and good numbers of early migrants on
the land. Highlights on the land where our first
two Wheatears of the spring along with six Black
Redstarts, five Fieldfare, 30 Redwings,
25 Chiffchaffs and 15 Firecrests.
Offshore movement consisted mainly of wildfowl
with 1700 Brent Geese, 12 Pintail,
eight Garganey, 16 Shoveler, and a Scaup
along with two Great Skuas, four Mediterranean
Gulls and eight Sandwich Terns.
Also of interest, a Stone-curlew was seen in the Lade Pit area. |
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| 16th | There
was a general clear out of yesterdays migrants
with just one Wheatear, two Black
Redstarts and five Firecrests
remaining. Two Little Ringed Plovers
arrived on the Point in the afternoon and there
were five Mediterranean Gulls and a Yellow-legged
Gull at the Patch.
There was very little in the way of numbers moving offshore during the day but a Black-throated Diver and a Red-necked Grebe flying east were of note. |
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| 17th | A handful of migrants in the area included three White Wagtails, two Black Redstarts and two Wheatears whilst a Velvet Scoter, four Mediterranean Gulls and ten Sandwich Terns were seen offshore. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 18th | There
was a small number of grounded migrants in the
area including four Black Redstarts, nine Stonechats,
two Wheatears, 13 Chiffchaffs and
four Firecrests and also a steady trickle
of birds overhead during the morning with a Grey
Wagtail, a Rock Pipit, 80 Chaffinches,
two Bramblings and two Siskins of
interest. Two Peregrine Falcons and a Little
Owl were also noted.
It was quiet at sea although two Mediterranean Gulls and eight Sandwich Terns were present. |
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| 19th | Small number of grounded migrants in the area including a White Wagtail (in the roost), four Black Redstarts, three Wheatears, ten Chiffchaffs and five Firecrests and the highlight of the day in the form of a Long-eared Owl seen on a couple of occasions in the trapping area. There was also a steady trickle of birds overhead during the morning with eight Stock Doves, a Grey Wagtail, 55 Chaffinches, six Bramblings of note. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 20th | Fairly quiet with just a handful of migrants including a Merlin, three Black Redstarts, four Wheatears, seven Chiffchaffs and three Firecrests. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 21st | A
cold and windy day made observations fairly
difficult but there was a fair bit to be seen. The
highlight of the day was a first-winter Glaucous
Gull which spent part of the afternoon near
the fishing boats. A first-winter Mediterranean
Gull was also seen at the Patch and a Great
Skua, 22 Little Gulls and nine Sandwich
Tern flew west in the afternoon.
The best of the land birds were a Black Redstart, three Wheatears, ten Chiffchaffs and seven Firecrests. |
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| 22nd | A very wintry day with gale force, very cold, northerly winds. A few birds moved west offshore including 40 Fulmars, 340 Gannets, 230 Kittiwakes and 400 auks species and a Long-tailed Duck flew east A Grey Plover was feeding on the beach. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 23rd | Four Teal flew east and there was an adult Mediterranean Gull at the Patch. Two Black Redstarts, eight Wheatears and at least five Firecrests were seen around the Observatory | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 24th | A Marsh Harrier was hunting at the Long Pits and five Black Redstarts, four Wheatears, 15 Redwings, 14 Chiffchaffs and six Firecrests were seen in the area. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 25th | Four
Marsh Harriers flew over the area and two Black
Redstarts, seven Wheatears, 12 Chiffchaffs
and seven Firecrests were found.
Two Mediterranean Gulls were seen at the Patch. |
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| 26th | A
calm and warmer day than of late resulted in a
small arrival of migrants with a
"continental" Coal Tit of note
along with five Black
Redstarts, six Wheatears, 30 Redwings,
eight Chiffchaffs, 20 Goldcrests
and ten Firecrests and three Siskins.
A Pheasant was also seen.
There was also a reasonable movement offshore with two Black-throated Divers, 1060 Brent Geese, 22 Wigeon, four Shoveler, five Eiders, 181 Common Scoters and two Goldeneye. Two Mediterranean Gulls and five Sandwich Terns were also seen. |
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| 27th | Migrants
continue to trickle in with 45 Wood Pigeons,
a Rock Pipit, a Grey Wagtail, six Black
Redstarts, 15 Chiffchaffs, 12 Goldcrests,
two Firecrests, a Tree Sparrow and a
Siskin of interest.
A few birds also moved east offshore including 33 Wigeon and 12 Scaup and two Mediterranean Gulls and 45 Sandwich Terns were also noted during the day. |
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| 28th | Another
day of strong winds and frequent very heavy rain
limited observations to the sea where there was an
excellent easterly movement of birds. Six hours of
watching in the morning produced 580 Fulmars
including 13 blue-phase birds, 873 Gannets,
243 Brent Geese, 215 Common Scoter,
five Eiders, 18 Red-breasted Mergansers,
20 Knot, 14 Great Skuas, nine Arctic
Skuas, two Little Gulls, five Mediterranean
Gulls, 80 Kittiwakes and 117 Sandwich
Terns.
A check of the gulls roosting near the fishing boats produced a third-winter Caspian Gull and a second-winter Yellow-legged Gull. |
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| 29th | Firecrests
continue to be seen in good numbers with at least
12 in the area whilst other migrants on the land
included four Black Redstarts, a Wheatear
and 12 Chiffchaffs along with a trickle of Meadow
Pipits and Linnets passing overhead.
Seawatching was fairly slow although three Arctic Skuas flew east during the afternoon and at least 37 Sandwich Terns were seen and a first-winter Glaucous Gull flew along the beach in the morning. |
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| 30th | The
Patch provided much of the days of interest with a
juvenile/first-winter Iceland Gull (our
third bird of the year) there throughout the day
along with two first-winter Caspian Gulls,
a Yellow-legged Gull and four Mediterranean
Gulls and our first Common Tern of the
year. In addition, a second-winter Glaucous
Gull was seen briefly at the fishing boats in
the morning. There was also an easterly trickle of
birds offshore with six Shovelers, 388 Common
Scoters, two Arctic Skuas, a Great
Skua, 12 Little Gulls and 35 Sandwich
Terns of note.
There was also a small arrival of migrants on the land with our first eight Willow Warblers of the spring being found along with six Black Redstarts, five Wheatears, a Blackcap, 19 Chiffchaffs and 14 Firecrests. Three Peregrine Falcons and a Merlin were also of note.
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| 31st | The
Iceland Gull and one of yesterdays Caspian
Gulls were seen at the Patch in the morning
but offshore passage was slow with just an Arctic
Skua, two Mediterranean Gulls and an
early morning flurry of 125 Sandwich Terns
of interest.
It was also fairly quiet on the land with little to be seen except for a Pheasant, four Wheatears, four Black Redstarts, eight Firecrests and five Siskin of note. |
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