Thursday 12 December 2019

Another one to add to "elusive" status - Black Redstart

It's nice when a plan comes up with a good sighting.........Shame that the plan was locate the Purple Sandpiper, and came up with a:
Black Redstart 1 f/imm - 10:05 - about an hour before high water. Red Nab was mostly covered. (MD).
It flew low along sloping sea wall from the direction of No.2 outflow. It initially landed on rocks below the wall where the freshwater culvert drains on to Red Nab, and disappeared from view. As I got within 50m it flew from here towards the exposed natural red rocks, I lost sight of it over the eastern edge of Red Nab. I hoped that it had landed, but I didn't see it again. After an extensive check of likely habitats nearby, I concluded that it must have doubled back towards the Power Station grounds. Just popped out for a drink?
This sighting suggests that the bird seen on 27/11 is lingering, and hopefully will be for some while.

Salt marsh - tide not much higher than yesterday, with reduced wind.
Common Snipe 6 (reduced waves tends to move birds in rather than flush them up)
Reed Bunting 2
Linnet c30