Saturday 21 March 2015

A day of light winds from the north, clear blue skies and chilly temperatures made birding very pleasant, but migrant numbers continued to struggle somewhat. There was a good count of 185 Meadow Pipits around the island during the day, and 17 Stonechats and 11 Wheatears were recorded around the coast and in the lowlands. Other passerine migrants around included single Redwing and Song Thrushes, six Chiffchaffs, 23 Goldcrests, nine Goldfinches and three Lesser Redpolls. A single Red-throated Diver, 17 Common Scoters and one Puffin flew past out to sea, and a handful of Manx Shearwaters gave their haunting calls overhead after dusk. Best of the rest were represented by single Buzzard, Merlin and Kestrels, plus five Purple Sandpipers around the Narrows and two Jack Snipes and three Common Snipes flushed from the wetlands.

Common Buzzard

Peregrine Falcon

Dunnocks all over the island are now spending a lot of their time displaying with their flashy wings, and trying to attract females


Some landscapes from the last few days (c) Steve Stansfield



1 comment:

  1. Lovely shots from the island. My Dunnock are displaying the the garden also.

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