Wednesday 15 April 2015

15th April 2015

Weather:  No wind first thing, backing West by lunch time with drizzle by late morning

A great April day with over 50 species recorded started quietly enough with a few wagtails passing over (including at least 3 Whites out of 11 alba noted) and a single Woodpigeon sat on the Telegraph Station steps.



Chiffchaffs outnumbered Willow Warblers 3 to 1 (literally!) but a male Blackcap was found in Telegraph House garden and was trapped later in the SK.

A female Blackcap was found at the South End and was presumably the same bird that was also trapped in the SK later in the day.

The main focus of the morning became the sea with 23 Little Gulls counted off the west side along with 7 Sandwich Terns and the first two Common Terns of the year.  The Scoter flocks remained impressive with an estimate from Hilbre of c8,000+ birds and despite no Surf Scoters being visible at least 6 Velvets were noted during the day.



The highlight of the day came at around 1pm when the first Grasshopper Warbler of the year was discovered in the Newton trap; a typical date, time and trap for this species at Hilbre.


(CJW (f), CLW, FPW, GIW, SRW, TGW (from over), ME) Photos SRW [156-25]

RAF Air Sea Rescue helicopter passing over Hilbre

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