BIG Sit
On Friday Sue saw a kingfisher and in the evening there were 14 pintail around. We were out most of Saturday dodging the (fog bound) airshow, but the evening produced the red-throated diver and a mistle thrush.
Yesterday's weather for the big sit was beautiful (albeit rather too nice as heat haze was a bit of a problem at times and haze over the sea cost us a few species). The turnout was a bit disappointing but the birds delivered...
A quick scan before breakfast plucked out a selection of other waders among the lapwing including a ruff and a curlew sandpiper. As I went to fetch the moth trap from along the drive, a couple of goldcrests were a handy species to get on the list. A great spotted woodpecker flying past as I made toast was a real bonus as was a song thrush (very tricky at this time of year). I did actually see another woodpecker later. As I filled the feeders a pied wagtail flew over, but better still an osprey was fishing over the river. A scan across the estuary picked up a skylark and a few house martins, taking the list to 40 by about 9:30.
I then went out into the garden with the scope for some serious watching, picking up several golden plover among the lapwings. A foray along the drive for wren (heard only) produced a bizarre sighting of red-throated diver flying over SW. A pintail feeding on the mud was nice and a kestrel which flushed the plovers was a welcome addition.
By the time the first visitor showed up, the list stood at 47. The going was quite slow at this point as the tide was still well out. A peregrine brought up the 50. At about 11.15, as we were watching an osprey fishing in front of the paper mill I picked up another raptor approaching from the NW on flat wings. It began circling over the village when it showed (among other things) very clear narrow black bars on a grey tail. Unfortunately it flew off south up the river without anyone else getting a scope on it. 2 common buzzards went south within 5 minutes of it, reinforcing the different appearance of the first bird which was clearly a brown juvenile honey buzzard (115 for the year, 153 total).
As the tide began to rise so the birds began to appear: 2 shoveler, a single knot, greenshank, red-breasted merganser, bar-tailed godwit ... The vulcan bomber took off at 12:30 (something it had been unable to do the day before!). As the mud vanished we had lots of wader action, including an adult spotted redshank, several curlew sandpipers, a couple of ruff and at least 19 greenshanks. Sue picked up a nice kingfisher, which took us to 64.
Over high tide the lesser yellowlegs showed nicely on the grass as did a juvenile spotted redshank.
We were then left to our own devices but the birds kept coming. A goldeneye (66) then a guillemot swimming past it (67, 116 for the year), finally a single adult gannet past the estuary mouth - the only one I was to see all day. As the tide dropped we counted an incredible 10 curlew sandpipers on the mud. A male sparrowhawk crossed the estuary, a stock dove flew past, grey plovers could be picked out in the outer estuary and the final species was a pale-bellied brent goose swimming past one of the osprey posts - an incredible 72 species for the day (plus wren heard!).
I need a lie down.
Rob
