Thursday 20 March 2014

March 19th

A day of strong south westerly winds meant that any passerine migrants on the island were keeping their heads down, the result being a rather small selection of new arrivals. A total of five Chiffchaffs around the vegetated areas included three alone in Plas Withy, one of which had an interesting pale ‘collar’. Five Goldcrests were in similar locations, whilst a Rook and a Hooded Crow were seen on The Narrows. Three Red-throated Divers and five Manx Shearwaters passed by the island, along with three Gannets and seven Fulmars.

**New layout**

Don’t forget to keep an eye on the new ‘arrival dates of spring migrants’, which can be found on the right hand side of the blog, just below the twitter feed. Common migrant species will be added as they arrive onto the island, along with previous record arrival dates, and a small thumbnail image.

A handful of Chiffchaffs continued to reside in Plas Withy, feeding on insects in the shelter of the willows
The only moth taken from the Ty Capel moth trap was this rather smart Emmelina monodactyla

March 20th

Well, the first ‘official’ day of spring began on a note more reminiscent of mid-winter: gale-force winds gusting above 50mph were accompanied by persistent rain and freezing temperatures. Despite the strong winds, there was no obvious movement of seabirds out to sea, although two Manx Shearwaters and a few Gannets and Kittiwakes did fly past. A Whimbrel joined 147 Oystercatchers on The Narrows, sheltering behind the earth banks, whilst a single Jack Snipe was flushed form the wetlands. One Chiffchaff was present in Crstin garden.

An Oystercatcher above the high seas generated by the gale-force winds
The ever-present Whimbrel, which has spent its winter on the island, continues to associate with the flock of Oystercatchers. This lonesome individual will (hopefully) soon be joined by many migrant birds
Despite many of the breeding Oystercatchers dispersing to their breeding territories around the island in recent weeks, almost of them were grouped back together on the Narrows today, with at least 147 birds recorded

1 comment:

  1. Hi Ben. Looked like storing had not quite arrived for you on Thursday however all your bird shots and into we're great.

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