Today the Irish sea was alive with
Manx Shearwaters, with 5121 noted (evening counts reached an excellent 100per 1min when the visibility was good enough to see the sea!), and amongst them a single
Balearic Shearwater headed south along the West Coast. Furthermore
33 Shags,
15 Cormorants,
152 Gannets,
28 Common Scoters, one
Arctic Skua,
4 Black-headed Gulls,
841 Kittiwakes,
3 Sandwich Terns and
1 Puffin were also noted. With Puffin being an uncommon autumn migrant, each sighting now could well represent the last of the year.
Amongst the waders counted on the Narrows, undoubtedly the most notable sighting was a total of 29
Whimbrels, a very high count for an already above-average autumn. Also noted were
56 Oystercatchers, six
Ringed Plovers, five
Purple Sandpipers, six
Dunlins,
28 Curlews,
29 Whimbrel,
11 Redshanks and
43 Turnstones
Passerine migration today was again poor. Overhead 63
Swallows and 15
House Martins were noted, with 133
Linnets, 12 nominate-race
Wheatears, two
Greenland Wheatears, two
Blackcaps and singles of
Willow Warbler,
Whitethroat and
Sedge Warbler noted on land. A
Little Owl was heard calling too.
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Next Generation Birders out at Nant Valley assisting the observatory's studying of Manx Shearwaters - Image Steve Stansfield |
In other news, the night before whilst NGB's George Dunbar & Elliot Montieth (our autumn intern), were presenting their fantastic talks about "Birding Iberia" & "Birdinghead" to the BBFO Staff, NGB's & BBFO committee members, a fall of 5
Convolvulus Hawk Moths invaded the island. Other sightings from the moth trap included a
Purple-bar and the second
Orange Swift of the year (and first to be recorded in the trap), but otherwise little was noted.
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NGB George Dunbar presenting his talk about his recent birding trip to Iberia with fellow NGB Jacob Spinks - Image Steve Stansfield |
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Convolvulus Hawkmoth (Agrius convolvuli) - Image George Dunbar |
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