Monday 4 May 2020

Sea and land bird interest

The breeze should have been NE but in reality it started more like NNE, later shifting further E. Mainly sunny
Sea watch totals from Pete (M) and Bill Martin
Common Scoter 35
Gannet 26
Red-Throated Diver 3
Kittiwake 39 in 10 flocks or singletons
Dunlin 4
Arctic Skua 1 dark morph in and another dark morph blogging outer bay chasing s terns
Carrion Crow one north over sea similarly Little Egret,
Arctic Tern 30 plus 6,8,7,
Common or Arctic Tern 5
Sandwich Tern c15
Guillemot 6
Razorbill/Guillemot 47
Swallow c20
Sand Martin 1
Greenshank flew high to north over OE
Rock Pipit one standing guard above nest site near lighthouse another near waterfall
Wheatear 4 near Red Nab

Inshore
Garden Warbler 2 singing Moneyclose Lane (PM). One singing yesterday on Middleton Nature Reserve (SC)
Cuckoo (first (probably only) record for the year) one singing in the small wood behind the Half Moon Bay cafe at 11:45. Heard from allotment at the bottom of Smithy Lane by Phil Rosser - thanks

Middleton Nature Reserve
See  yesterday's record for Garden warbler above. This means there are potentially 10 warblers to be found here at the moment.
Both Cetti's and Grasshopper warblers singing this morning - re Janet
Common Snipe 1

Four-spotted chaser - thanks Janet


Skeer - low water 16:40
No sign of Knot, Great-Crested grebes or Red-breasted merganser.
Eider 14 male
Dunlin 4
Two of the Dunlin amongst the honeycomb worm

Bar-tailed Godwit 8
One in full summer plumage