Thursday, 6 August 2015

6th August


A light easterly wind and a few hours of light rain from dawn should have been perfect for some passerine migrants but it was the sea that held all the attention through the morning with a good and varied southward wader passage as totals included 653 Oystercatchers, 59 Knot, 122 Dunlin, 57 Redshank, 11 Turnstone, 14 Curlew, 10 Bar-tailed Godwits, 2 Little Stints, 4 Sanderling and 3 Grey Plover (the totals would have been a bit larger but the weather forecast tricked me into opening some nets a few hours in and by the time I’d opened, waited around and closed when it started raining again I’d lost two hours!).  

There was a good selection of other bits and pieces over the sea as well including a Long-tailed Duck (very scarce at this time of year), a dark adult Arctic Skua, a Bonxie, a juvenile Tystie, an Arctic Tern, a Red-throated Diver, a Tufted Duck and 4 Red-breasted Mergansers.

A walk round the coast produced, as expected more waders including a Spotted Redshank, 8 Bar-tailed Godwits, 15 Greenshank, 11 Wood Sandpipers and 26 Common Sandpipers.   Back out again in the late afternoon where the highlights were excellent views of an Osprey which was hovering over Verevågen and then an hour later flew right over my head in Vågsvollvika carrying a large fish and incredibly brief views of the Eagle Owl again in Lebeltet – basically just a huge shape flushed out of a tree which disappeared instantly deeper into the wood; other bits included 9 Crossbills, 4 Red-backed Shrikes, 7 Whinchats and a Pied Flycatcher while hirundines are noticeably starting to build up with 40+ Swallows out over the fields.
 



Osprey with big fish and big Gull

The light was obviously rubbish but this is the perfect silhouette!

Yellowhammer

Mr Linnet and his family
 

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