A day of stormy weather with high winds blowing at Force 8 and heavy seas at sea state 7 made birding difficult today with temperatures of 10°C (reaching feel-like temperatures as low as -7°C) and poor visibility overall. Seal monitoring produced a total of 125 Grey Seals around the island including 10 pups.

Stormy season the West Coast (c) Steven Stansfield

Wader and seabird counts included some variety with three Lapwings including two arriving in off the sea onto the Narrows in the afternoon producing some interesting movement. Other species included the first two Woodcocks of the season, one Bar-tailed Godwit, five Turnstones, two Ringed Plovers, two Whimbrels, one Curlew, one Redshank, 14 Gannets, 19 Kittiwakes, and one Razorbill.

Landbird counts were generally low, however, records for the day included one Collared Dove, four Chiffchaffs, two Blackcaps, ten Goldcrests, eight Robins, one Meadow Pipit, nine Rock Pipits, 13 Redwings, two Song Thrushes, six Blackbirds, two Starlings, one male Brambling, five Chaffinches and two Goldfinches. Raptors counts featured one Sparrowhawk and one Merlin.

Today’s weather brought an Easterly wind blowing at Force 4, excellent visibility, and a sea state of 3, with rain setting in from 20:00 as temperatures reached 12°C. 

Sunrise from the South End (c) Ezra Sherwell

A small influx of passerines was noted today with one Yellow-browed Warbler still at Cristin, one Brambling and two Crossbills the highlights. Other species included four Chiffchaffs, three Blackcaps, 13 Goldcrests, 14 Robins, 34 Starlings, eight Blackbirds, seven Redwings, one Song Thrush, six Skylarks, 23 Rock Pipits, 17 Meadow Pipits, three Alba Wagtails, 11 Goldfinches, seven Linnets,  four Chaffinches and three Redpolls.

Sea and coastal species counts included one female Pintail, 15 Common Scoters, 14 Gannets, 60 Razorbills, and one Mediterranean Gull, 24 Curlews, 17 Turnstones, four Snipes, three Redshanks, one Purple Sandpiper, one Bar-tailed Godwit, and one Whimbrel. One Water Rail was also heard down in the wetlands and a single Merlin was seen on the South End.

Poor weather lead to a quiet day for birds with conditions bringing brought persistent rain throughout the morning accompanied by a strong Westerly wind blowing at Force 6, mostly poor visibility, and a choppy sea state of 5 as temperatures reached 11°C. 

Some seabird movement was recorded with 96 Gannets, 51 Kittiwakes, 28 Shags, 150 Razorbills, 16 Guillemots, 12 Cormorants, six Manx Shearwaters, one Fulmar, three Mediterranean Gulls, three Common Gulls, and one dark Arctic Skua. Wildfowl wader counts across the coastal and wetland habitats included three Teals, one Water Rail, 42 Curlews, three Whimbrels, 14 Turnstones, two Redshanks, one Ringed Plover, one Grey Plover, one Lapwing, one Purple Sandpiper, and one Snipe. 

Landbird counts were also very quiet with 58 Starlings, 17 Goldfinches, nine Chaffinches, six Siskins, five Redpolls, five Linnets, one Song Thrush, one Redwing, seven Blackbirds, six Jackdaws, one Rook, two Meadow Pipit, five Rock Pipits,  two Chiffchaffs, three Goldcrests, two Robins, and one Stonechat.

Meadow Pipit (c) Ezra Sherwell