Things Are Moving

All work and no play makes Tom a bladdy tired birder.


Dragging up to be at the Nose first thing on Saturday didn't help, either. But it was the first seawatch in August, and that has History. Go on, look up seawatches in the first week of August and you'll find some pretty serious stuff. You don't have to go far, just ask The Boss about last year.


Aaanyways, with heavy showers and at least a moderate wind in the right directions, it looked.. possible.

There were no serious numbers moving - I had 177 Manx south in 6 hours - but with them were 6 Balearics and 2 Sooties, so not THAT bad at all  :D

It was a watch of variety over quantity, with only Common Scoter getting a 'oooh that's a lot'; 94 of them passed by. Contrast with 95 Gannet, 23 Kittiwake and 28 Fulmar. The other big number [relatively speaking] was Med Gulls! A 3cy and at least 17 juveniles!! WTF...?!? I say 'at least' because with the outfall kicking in [sporadically, anyway], there was some lingering going on and I only counted ones I saw leave.

Waders, terns, and auks passed in ones and twos; Sanderling, Turnstone, Whimbrel, Common Tern, Sarnie, Puffin, Razorbill, and Guillemot.


Eventually the shower clouds gave way to little white fluffy ones, and though Manx passage never truly stopped, it was such a trickle, so far out in the glare, that I called it a day.


I found no migrants in the bushes - not surprising, with the time, weather, and all the grockles.. - but there were a few butterflies on the wing, mainly Gatekeepers of course, with a surprise [for the Nose] Dark Green Fritillary the best of them.



Yesterday the effects of all that overtime, noisy days, and getting up far too early caught up with me, so I was only able to stagger about the Patch in the afternoon..


No Brown Hairstreaks [or any other nice butterflies], but I did find a few migrants, notably a fair number of Willow Warblers. A couple of juvenile Whitethroat showed well at the Nose, as did a couple of juv Med Gulls sat on the rocks. Stationary Meds are far and few between at the Nose, so I tried a shot with the trusty [ho ho] phonebins;

Juvenile Med Gulls

Sort of identifiable, anyway.


I had a look at the sea and noticed shearwaters going north! A ten minute timed count gave 95 Manx and a Balearic [plus a Gannet] north, with 1 Manx south. I suspect this was not entirely representative, as said Manxies included a group of 41, while all other groups were half a dozen or so, but it's still quite a few.



Finally, I can finally give the news I have been suppressing* for some time now;

The World's Hardest Pair of Oystercatchers have fledged two young from their nest on the Lead Stone!!

Yes, the Lead Stone, that almost bare rock, loitering place for Herring Gulls and Geebs, swept by Crows and Ravens [not to mention the odd big wave!], is the site of breeding waders! I wondered what was going on when I first heard a ruckus and saw an Oyk giving a gull what-for. Then when I saw a chick wandering about..!! I've witnessed all manner of birds being seen off - including that unluckily brief Whimbrel on Friday! - with much indignant piping and those long red bills aimed for the vent [ouch..]

Here's the closest I could get to a pic;

Oyk nest site;

That black blob centre frame is the back of an adults head

[a chick had just wandered back behind the rock from the right...]

To say I am chuffed is putting it far too mildly, I'm over the frickin' moooooon!!! Oyks breeding on my Patch!!!!!

  :D




[[*While they're not Schedule 1, the site is theoretically accessible to anyone with a boat, so I felt caution was necessary.]]