The east wind was fresher today. Plenty of sunshine, particularly in the morning, but hazy at times.
South Shore
I went to check if the Vagrant Emperor had remained overnight (MD). It had, and at 08:00 it was in precisely the same position as yesterday evening.
At least six observers managed to see it, the last record comes from Phil Simpson - It was still present at 1030 this morning but wing whirring as the sun gradually warmed the seawall. A difficult angle for photography and the wing venation doesn't show well against the concrete.
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| This is Phil's excellent shot. By this time it was in the same general location as yesterday, but had clearly moved position as the pattern of stones behind it are different. It had probably moved higher up the wall to catch more sun. |
Pete provided this interesting post from Adrian Parr, migrant dragonflies analyst:
“There's been a small influx of Vagrant Emperors into western Britain within the last two weeks or so. The records suggest they're coming up the west coast of France (perhaps with some directly crossing the Bay of Biscay), then hitting the south-west coast of England and then either drifting northwards along the west coast, or else carrying on up the Irish Sea. I'm not aware of sightings in Ireland as yet this autumn, but that's probably because they have relatively few recorders”. Then one found dead in Antrim after this was written
Other than that, very little, I exercised my daughter's dog along the wall at lunchtime, there were three Red Admirals resting and catching the hazy sunshine.
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| Red Admiral |
Linnet 70+ saltmarsh
Mediterranean gull 1 adult Red Nab
Wigeon 53 Red Nab
Shelduck 260 feeding on the mud then drinking in the freshwater runoff at Red Nab. This is one group flying over.
Lapwing 22 saltmarsh
Peregrine Falcon 1 flew into the Power Stations
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| Peregrine Falcon |
The wind from the east set to become very strong over the next few days. Wrong direction to blow seabirds in! Records may be thin on the ground for a while.
