Weather: ENE force 1
It was striking how little rain there has been recently when the pond looked almost dry this morning.
On arrival very early in the day 2 Lapwings dropped into the gutter briefly and then another flew across the island. Lapwings are usually associated with autumn and especially winter at Hilbre but are always scarce, while the 5 Starlings that landed in the obs garden are more often birds of passage, particulary in late autumn when they can pass overhead in large numbers.
The other feature of the morning were the fly through of several Swifts arriving from the north west, initially a group of 5, and then 2's and 3's totalling 16 birds.
Waders continue to arrive back, a couple of hundred Oystercatchers, 3 Whimbrel and 10 Curlew were noted.
Breeding carries on apace, with young of Blackbird, Pied Wagtail and Rock Pipit seen.
It was warm this morning and this dragonfly appeared near the pond, it is a probable Yellow-veined Darter, but difficult to be certain as it is so teneral. It is only the second record, the first was on 8th August 1997.
Just when we thought that the Whitethroat had gone for good, it started to sing in the obs garden at 09.00hrs and then moved north to the paddocks. No Eiders were spotted, but often they appear later in the day.
photos CJ (pond) AEH (rest)
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