Pallas's Warbler

Pallas's Warbler
Pallas's Warbler, Donna Nook 10th October 2010

Thursday 31 December 2015

         Two skeins of Pink-footed Geese totalling 96 birds flew south during the morning.   Little of note was on the dunes while only 5 Grey Partridges were of interest on the fields.   On the flashes were 5 Mute Swans, 3 Whooper Swans, 2 Mallard, 2 Little Grebes, 4 Coots, one Little Egret and 5 Redshanks.   On the shore were 36 Curlews, 160 Sanderlings, 500 Lapwings, 60 Brent Geese, 10 Cormorants, 50 Twite and a Merlin which passed to the south.

Wednesday 30 December 2015

         Birds seen in the Stonebridge area during the gales included 430 Brent Geese, 13 Shelducks, 5 Turnstones, 230 Lapwings, 100 Golden Plovers, 69 Twite, a Common Buzzard, a Sparrowhawk and a
Merlin.
         A late report from the seal wardens concerns a Waxwing at Stonebridge on 27th.

Monday 28 December 2015


                                                                     Yellowhammer


                                                                               Stonechat

         A walk from Stonebridge to Pye's Hall and then around the realignment area produced the following birds.   Waders were 220 Oystercatchers, 100 Dunlin, 47 Curlews, 210 Redshanks, 27 Golden Plovers and 1,200 Lapwings.   Wildfowl were 1,100 Brent Geese, 3 Pink-footed Geese, 427 Shelducks, 103 Mallard and 70 Teal.   Also of note were 5 Little Grebes, 4 Little Egrets, 33 Rock Pipits, 120+ Twite, 2 Stonechats and a Short-eared Owl.

Saturday 26 December 2015

         There was little of note at the south end this morning.   The best birds on the landward side were 3 Whooper Swans on the flashes and a Common Buzzard over the fields.   There was no sea passage during an hour spent on the tide-line, but birds onshore included 10 Cormorants, 250 Brent Geese, 650 Golden Plovers, one Grey Plover, 45 Sanderlings, 160 Dunlin, 18 Lapwings, 12 Redshanks, 31 Curlews and 61 Bar-tailed Godwits.

         Yesterday (25th), at Stonebridge in the continuous rain, there were 65 Twite, 350 Brent Geese, 20 Shelducks and 135 Lapwings.

Thursday 24 December 2015

         Some late notes from yesterday (23rd) from the Stonebridge area.   The best birds were 118 Lapwings, 350 Golden Plovers, 7 Turnstones, 75 Dunlin, 140 Brent Geese, one Merlin, 400 Starlings, one Snow Bunting and 107 Twite.

Monday 21 December 2015

         Waders between Stonebridge and Pye's Hall this morning were 500 Golden Plovers, 430 Lapwings, 120 Redshanks, 880 Oystercatchers, 59 Curlews, 3 Turnstones, 500 Dunlin, 420 Knot and 50 Grey Plovers.   Wildfowl were 210 Brent Geese, 100 Shelducks, 52 Mallard, 5 Wigeon and 84 Teal.    Other birds of note were 9 Little Egrets, one Grey Heron, 3 Cormorants, 3 Little Grebes, one Common Buzzard, 7 Grey Partridges, 10 Rock Pipits, one Stonechat, 25 Twite, 13 Blackbirds and one Redwing.

Friday 18 December 2015

 

                                                                     Short-eared Owl


                                                                               Redwing


         A walk from Stonebridge to Pye's Hall and then around the realignment area.   Waders were 520 Oystercatchers, 240 Redshanks, 510 Dunlin, 500 Knot, 33 Curlews, 460 Golden Plovers, 370 Lapwings, 11 Turnstones and one Common Snipe.   180 Pink-footed Geese headed south and other wildfowl were 450 Brent Geese, 5 Mute Swans, 32 Mallard, 35 Teal and 190 Shelducks.   Other waterbirds were 14 Little Egrets, 3 Little Grebes and 7 Cormorants.

         4 Kestrels and a Peregrine were present, also at least one Short-eared Owl.   60 Twite and 80 Goldfinches seen, plus a Stonechat, 5 Meadow Pipits, 12 Rock Pipits, 2 Pied Wagtails, 12 Blackbirds, one Mistle Thrush and one Redwing.

Thursday 17 December 2015

         It was exceedingly quiet in the continuing mild conditions.    Heading south were 2 Whooper Swans, 5 Pink-footed Geese and a ringtail Hen Harrier.   60 Golden Plovers and 70 Lapwings were on the fields.   Three more Whooper Swans were on the flashes with a Little Egret, 11 Mallard, 55 Teal and a Jack Snipe.  A Common Buzzard was near the Coastguard cottages where there were 2 Collared Doves, 50 Stock Doves and a Redwing.   Birds on the shore just after high tide were 18 Oystercatchers, 23 Curlews, 120 Dunlin, 3 Cormorants and 4 Rock Pipits.

Wednesday 16 December 2015


                                                                           Turnstone


                                                                 Great Black-backed Gull


         A short afternoon visit to the seal colony in the Stonebridge area produced counts of  250 Shelducks, 40 Mallard, 800 Brent Geese, 11 Turnstones, 250 Lapwings, 45 Skylarks, 15 Twite, 15 Blackbirds and a Song Thrush.

         Yesterday, there was a male Hen Harrier at Quad 3.

Sunday 13 December 2015

         An unremarkable WeBS count between Stonebridge and Pye's Hall.   Waders were 15 Lapwings, 100 Redshanks, one Turnstone, 280 Oystercatchers, 50 Curlews, 10 Grey Plovers, 420 Dunlin and 50 Knot.   Wildfowl were 1,060 Brent Geese, 292 Shelducks, 2 Eiders, 124 Mallard and 167 Teal.   Also of note were 3 Little Egrets, 2 Little Grebes, 3 Cormorants, 14 Rock Pipits, 2 Pied Wagtails, one Fieldfare, 20 Twite, one Kestrel and one Sparrowhawk.

Friday 11 December 2015

         Birds on the fields at the south end included 37 Mallard, 15 Teal, 220 Lapwings, 117 Golden Plovers, 98 Curlews, one Mistle Thrush and one Short-eared Owl.   Along the flashes were 10 more Mallard, 5 Teal, 3 Whooper Swans, 2 Little Egrets and 2 Little Grebes.   A freshly-dead mink was found near the Beacon Flash bridge.   The dunes were fairly quiet with 12 Blackbirds, 3 Robins and a Sparrowhawk.

         13 Pink-footed Geese flew south over the sea and onshore were 180 Brent Geese, 190 Knot, 37 Redshanks, 29 Grey Plovers, 450 Dunlin, 5 Sanderlings, 8 Cormorants, 46 Goldfinches and good counts of 130 Twite and 380 Skylarks.

        

Thursday 10 December 2015

         Heavy drizzle, poor light and moderate to poor visibility were hardly conducive to worthwhile observations.   134 Shelducks and 50 Redshanks were on the shore at Stonebridge.   Waders on the realignment area were 167 Lapwings, 630 Golden Plovers, 40 Redshanks, 5 Curlews and 25 Dunlin.   Wildfowl were 220 Brent Geese, 4 Pink-footed Geese over to the south and a skein only heard, 21 Shelducks, 4 Mallard and 87 Teal.   Also of note were 3 Little Grebes, 12 Little Egrets, 60 Twite, 40 Goldfinches, 6 Rock Pipits, one Water Pipit, one Merlin and one Short-eared Owl.

         Yesterday (9th), there were 28 Common Scoters and 2 Velvet Scoters on the sea opposite Stonebridge.   On the shore here were 380 Brent Geese, 600 Golden Plovers, one Turnstone and 20 Twite.

Friday 4 December 2015

         Birds on the shore between Stonebridge and Pye's Hall included 1,000 Brent Geese, 130 Shelducks, 140 Mallard, 90 Redshanks, 30 Curlews, 700 Dunlin, 1,500 Oystercatchers, 200 Knot and 22 Twite. 

         Waders on the realignment area were 350 Lapwings, 170 Golden Plovers, one Grey Plover, one Turnstone, 100 Redshanks, 99 Dunlin and 2 Common Snipe.    Wildfowl were 2 Mute Swans, 10 Shelducks, 6 Mallard and 26 Teal, plus 17 Pink-footed Geese which passed over to the south.   Other birds of note were 13 Little Egrets, 6 Little Grebes, 5 Cormorants, one Sparrowhawk, one Merlin, 3 Kestrels, one Common Buzzard, one male Hen Harrier, 2 Redwings, 6 Blackbirds, one Pied Wagtail and 7 Rock Pipits.   A sighting of 2 Red-legged Partridges was the first since 10th July.








Wednesday 2 December 2015

         A very quiet day at the south end.   3 Whooper Swans, 55 Teal and 3 Little Egrets on the flashes while on the dunes there were 20 Blackbirds, one Corn Bunting, 4 Lesser Redpolls and a Peregrine.   Birds on the shore were 200 Brent Geese, 72 Curlews, 300 Lapwings, 30 Golden Plovers, 130 Knot, 40 Sanderling, 250 Dunlin and 17 Bar-tailed Godwits.