16th April 2021

 Weather: E force 1, later SSE 2   clear sky    cool but sunny

Best record of the day was a Spoonbill that flew north west up the island chain at the unearthly hour of 05.55, showing to one lucky member that was already present at that time, others missed it by a few minutes. Obviously Spoonbill has been occuring more regularly in recent years, but this is still only the 5th record for the island. The other exciting event was the finding of an Osprey over the west hoyle bank at 08.28. Attention was aroused as usual by a commotion among the large gulls and it was seen underneath the mobbing  group of gulls as it moved east and circled over the shallow water, proceeding to dive for a fish at one stage before continuing on its way towards the north Wirral shore. It was mostly distant but a record shot was possible from the island.

 

Migration wise the day was quiet, Pink-footed Geese did their normal flypast at dawn, today possibly 1,500 birds were involved, and not to be outdone it was also a Canada Goose day, with in addition to the 2 individuals that have taken a liking to the pond, there were groups of 5 and then 10 flying off the north end. Two Wigeon reminded us that winter has not long gone, as did the remaining 18 Brent which included 2 dark-bellied birds, but the drake Eider was not found today. Two Woodpigeons arrived, more typical spring arrivals were 5 White Wagtails and a single Willow Warbler, plus several finches. Notable by their absence this morning were any Wheatears, unusual for these weather conditions in April. A Peregrine was in flight off the west side and 2 Ravens flew across Middle late morning. A single Whimbrel was the best of the few waders about. During the quieter afternoon tide period attention turned to the sea with good results including 26 Red-throated Divers, a total of 13 Little Gulls, 2 Gannets, 13 Red-breasted Mergansers, 29 Guillemots and 3 Razorbills etc. Sandwich Terns have much increased in numbers now, 120 were noted resting on the west hoyle, as well as 20 Common Terns. Two Harbour Porpoise were also as a result of the sea watch.

photos GB,SRW