Friday 4 October 2019

Today, the light North-Westerly winds in the morning produced very cool conditions which dropped later creating a warmer, more summer-like day.

The winds in the morning produced ideal weather for a sea-watch as birds are pushed closer into the coast: 4 Manx Shearwaters, 2 Arctic Skuas, 2 Great Skuas, 130 Gannets, 4 Common Scoters, 22 Mediterranean Gulls, 92 Kittiwakes, 2 Sandwich Terns, 1 Arctic Tern and 67 Razorbills.

At this time of year, a gull flock begins to build up off the Southern end of the island which will reach up to 30,000 birds later in the year. A small flock has already started to form which currently contains 500 Kittiwakes, 6 Common Gulls, 8 Mediterranean Gulls, 24 Herring Gulls and 6 Black-Headed Gulls.

Robin. George Dunbar . 

Once the North-Westerly wind dropped, some overhead passage was seen and 6 Skylarks, 3 House Martins and 1 Reed Bunting - only the third of the autumn - flew over.  Later in the evening, after dark, the first Redwing of the autumn flew over the Observatory, heading South.

Some grounded migrants were also seen today with 24 Robins, 20 Chiffchaffs and 35 Goldcrests on the island and 1 Common Sandpiper was seen on the Narrows as well as a single Golden Plover on the South End along with a juvenile Merlin.


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