19th February 2023

 Weather:  WSW force 5,  SW 4 by noon

 A Raven was displaying again this morning, prospecting along the cliffs.

 

 The Kestrel made several attempts to chase it away. 

There were 9 each of Eiders and Goosanders this morning, the latter were fishing between the islands before the tide.

 

 A pair of Scoter were near the island.

   A really high count of 330 Brent was made.

 There were no Little Egrets and just a single Grey Heron.

 

Looking out to sea, most obvious were 24 Great Crested Grebes. A Peregrine showed up and during the high tide period 10,000 Knot and 1,500 Dunlin took to the sky. Nearer to the island 120 Redshank and  160 Turnstone and 11 Purple Sandpipers rested and fed during the tide. 

 

 

 One of the 4 Blackbirds seen was caught for ringing (a male).

 Song Thrush and Robin were also around.

 Some of the 6 Rock Pipits seemed to be paired.

A Skylark and a Pied Wagtail passed through during the morning. A young seal was hauled out on the island.

 There were signs of spring on the islands this morning

 

 Photos AEH