Sightings May 2010

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1st After a quiet morning on the land there was a small arrival of migrants through the afternoon with a Turtle Dove, three Redstarts, four Whinchats, 42 Wheatears and 12 Willow Warblers of note. Swifts and Swallows passed overhead in small numbers along with a Tree Pipit and 30 Yellow Wagtails through the day.

A brief spell of movement produced a Black-throated Diver, 40 Bar-tailed Godwits, two Pomarine Skuas, six Arctic Skuas and a Great Skua.

2nd A thoroughly miserable day with heavy rain from the early hours until early evening and a rapidly increasing, cold north-easterly wind. There was a handful of migrants, notably our first Spotted Flycatcher of the spring, along with 40 Swifts, a Redstart, three Blackcaps, a Garden Warbler, three Lesser Whitethroats and a Redpoll.

Seawatching was very slow but several hours of observation eventually produced a Slavonian Grebe on the sea, 133 Fulmars, two Arctic Skuas, a Great Skua, two Mediterranean Gulls and 103 Arctic Terns and a Black Tern. 
3rd A Black Tern at the Patch was the only noteworthy bird on another cold and windy day.
4th The strong and cold northerly wind was still blowing and migration was at a virtual standstill. The only birds of note were at the Patch where there was a second-summer Caspian Gull along with a second-summer Yellow-legged Gull, 800 Common Terns, three Arctic Terns and two Black Terns.
5th A Manx Shearwater flew east and 400 Common Terns were feeding offshore and an additional 764 passed east. Very quiet on the land.
6th Offshore, 140 Whimbrel flew east and 500 Common Terns and five Arctic Terns were feeding offshore and two Hobbies came in. On the land, 110 Swallows passed through and three Blackcaps were seen. 
7th Good numbers of waders moved through with 14 Grey Plovers, 11 Sanderlings, 278 Bar-tailed Godwits and 270 Whimbrels along with two Pomarine Skuas and a Great Skua and ten Little Terns. A Merlin and three Yellow Wagtails also came in but there was very little else to be seen on the land.
8th The outstanding bird of the day was an adult Whiskered Tern which was feeding at the Patch for a while in the early morning before relocating to the RSPB Reserve. Other birds seen offshore during the day included seven Knot, 15 Sanderlings, 78 Whimbrel, three Arctic Skuas, four Arctic Terns, 22 Little Terns and four Black Terns.

Whiskered Tern

Whiskered Tern

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A small arrival of migrants on the land in the dismal weather included a Hobby, five Yellow Wagtails, a Redstart and a male Pied Flycatcher.
9th There was an easterly trickle of birds offshore again during the morning with three Pomarine Skuas, a Roseate Tern and 16 Black Terns of note along with six Arctic Skuas and a Great Skua.

Very quiet on the land with just a Hobby, a Cuckoo and a Redstart of note.
10th The cold north-east by east winds and clear skies continue and very little to be seen. Two Black Terns flying east were the only noteworthy birds.
11th Little change in the weather or the birds. A Marsh Harrier and two Hobbys came in along with 180 Swallows whilst birds seen offshore included an Arctic Skua, two Little Gulls and two Black Terns.
12th Most of the days interest was offshore with an afternoon movement producing 11 Pomarine Skuas (in groups of 5,1 and 5),  62 Whimbrels, three Great Skuas, 924 Common Terns, 19 Arctic Terns and 14 Little Terns.
13th Six hours of seawatching during the day produced 288 Common Scoters, a Great Northern Diver, four Grey Plovers, 16 Sanderling, 20 Bar-tailed Godwits, 32 Whimbrel, five Arctic Skuas, a Great Skua, a Roseate Tern, 1900 Common Terns, 23 Little Terns and five Black Terns. Three Mediterranean Gulls were also feeding at the Patch.

On the land, a Marsh Harrier, a Common Sandpiper, 46 Swallows, four Yellow Wagtails and seven Chiffchaffs were of note.

14th Seawatching for 9.5hrs produced a Great Northern Diver, 12 Common Eider, four Avocets, 19 Whimbrel, two Pomarine and two Arctic Skuas, two Mediterranean Gulls, 3750 Common Terns, 100 Arctic Terns, 37 Little Terns and eight Black Terns.

Three Tree Pipits were seen at the Long Pits along with a Redstart and three Willow Warblers. A Marsh Harrier also flew over the area
15th The highlight of an otherwise very quiet day was a Serin which flew south over the Observatory at 0720hrs. In addition two Spotted Flycatchers were seen at the north end of the Long Pits and a late Merlin and two Hobbies were also seen.
16th A Redstart and a Spotted Flycatcher were of note on the land and two Pomarine Skuas and three Arctic Skuas flew east offshore. A first-summer Mediterranean Gull was feeding at the Patch.
17th It feels as if the spring is now virtually over with overnight rain producing just a Spotted Flycatcher, two Jays and a Corn Bunting of interest.
18th Another generally quiet day but a Roseate Tern and three Black Terns flew east and the two Jays were still in the trapping area.
19th A Pomarine Skua flew east in the afternoon and a Hobby flew over the Observatory.
20th Two male Stonechats of the race rubicola were seen near the Britannia Pub 
21st A party of six Pomarine Skuas flew east in the morning and a Common Sandpiper was seen at the Long Pits.
22nd Four Pomarine Skuas along with nine Grey Plovers, 70 Knot, 12 Little Terns and nine Black Terns flew east but very little to be seen on the land.
23rd Four Pomarine Skuas, a Little Ringed Plover, four Mediterranean Gulls and a Black Tern flew east and a but it was very quiet on the land.
24th What was another very quiet day in very hot weather came to life in the early evening with the finding of a superb Bee-eater on telegraph wires outside the Observatory. Unfortunately it was only present for about 15 minutes before flying off to the north-east and was seen by only six people.

Bee-eater

Bee-eater

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Other birds of interest included two Hobbies, a Tree Sparrow and a Redpoll.
25th An unusual day with strong north-east winds and thick fog at first, becoming sunny later but remaining very cold and which produced very little other than two Mediterranean Gulls and seven Little Terns at the Patch and a party of 13 Sanderlings passing east.
26th A miserable day with fresh north-east winds and heavy rain produced a small movement of birds offshore with three Roseate Terns and six Black Terns of note. Swallows also moved east in good numbers with at least 216 passing through.
27th A Spotted Flycatcher was the only obvious migrant on the land although 200 Swifts, 65 Swallows and 70 House Martins flew overhead whilst there was a second-summer Yellow-legged Gull at the Patch.
28th Very quiet. A first-summer Mediterranean Gull and a second-summer Yellow-legged Gull were seen at the Patch.
29th A four-hour seawatch in the worst of the weather in the afternoon produced eight Manx Shearwaters, 57 Fulmars, singles of Arctic and Great Skuas, 172 Sandwich Terns and two Little Terns and a first-summer Caspian Gull was also seen at the Patch in the morning.
30th A Roseate Tern and a first-summer Mediterranean Gull were seen at the Patch in the morning. Three Hobbies were hunting over the area.
31st Another first-summer Caspian Gull and two Mediterranean Gulls were seen at the Patch and two Manx Shearwaters and an Arctic Skua flew east. A few Swifts also  arrived but there was very little else to be seen in the area.