A mid-morning tide necessitated a dawn walk to the island with the temperature at 1 c but feeling more like - 5c in the northerly wind that later reached force 5. Even the waders felt it and many sheltered in Niffy bay for the high tide as the wind backed slightly. Not all will manage to survive the cold and the roost of 3,000 or so Oystercatchers and others also suffered repeated attempts by 3 Carrion Crows to find a meal amongst them on Middle island. The three dead birds found seemed to have succumbed to predation however, a Meadow Pipit on middle, a Turnstone at the north end and a Knot on the beach. A female Sparrowhawk that was seen to fly by the island (CJW) may have been one of the culprits, or else possibly a Peregrine. A sea watch failed to produce any of the scarcer species nevertheless 4 Red-throated Divers, 26 Common Scoter, 2 Red-breasted Mergansers and 71 Great crested Grebes were logged. A single female Chaffinch was the only passerine that was definitely new today.
(DB,KMc+SD,CS)
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