Friday 29 September 2017

It was a reasonable day for passerine diversity today. For most locations, the Wryneck found at the North End would be the standout highlight of the day, although for this autumn at least, the Whinchat alongside it was the rarer bird, just our fourth of return passage! The other most notable species were an excellent six Firecrests, two Pied Flycatchers, a Blue Tit and a lingering Great Spotted Woodpecker.

Overhead three "Flava" Wagtails was a good count, but vis-mig was generally quite poor, a high figure of five Sparrowhawks aside. Otherwise 15 Swallows, four Skylarks and a single Kestrel moved through. On the ground 72 Goldcrests were the commonest migrant, with some good passage of chats and thrushes featuring 28 Robins, 13 Wheatears, three Spotted Flyctatchers and a single Song Thrush. Meanwhile Warblers were in quite poor numbers, with just 11 Chiffchaffs and two Blackcaps seen. On the opener and coastal habitats, a decent amount of Pipit and Wagtail migration was discernible, featuring 67 Meadow Pipits, 45 Rock Pipits, 21 Pied Wagtails and 7 White Wagtails. 29 Goldfinches were the only finches of note, and other grounded migrants were a Water Rail in Cristin Withy and a Wigeon on Pwll Cain.

Raven, Ephraim Perfect; Ephraim's Bird Blog

It was very quiet out to sea, with Kittiwakes numbering just 147, rather than the usual thousands! 139 Razorbills and a good haul of 76 Common Scoters were the bulk of passage, with little a bit of quality also mixed in, featuring one Great Skua, one Pomarine Skua and three "Commic" Terns. Two Guillemots and two Fulmars were the first of either species seen in several days. It was a very quiet day for Waders again, although Curlews were up to 54 and Oystercatchers to 46. 14 Turnstones and nine Redshanks were also about, with three Dunlins heading south past the North End and a single Snipe in the wetlands.

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