Sunday 19 November 2023

19th November 2023

 Weather: SW force 6/7 decreasing 4/5 with steady rain

An early morning visit was made difficult by the weather, strong winds at first followed by heavy rain, rainbows gave the clue it was on its way. The island pond is full to overflowing after all the rain this month.

 

A Merlin was flushed from the west side and flew north around the cliff but failed to show again despite some of the waders being very wary at times. Shortly afterwards the bird of the day in the form of a Woodcock erupted from the ground near the light and flew south over the 'heli' paddock and frustratingly was also not seen again despite an extensive search of the likely areas of the island. A Song Thrush was present and 3 Blackbirds were in the SK trap with rings from previous visits. The low tide meant sightings were at a minimum, just 85 of the Brent showed and about 1,000 Cormorants exited the estuary in the early hours. Only 2 Little Egrets and one Grey Heron were noted. 

 

The Kestrel which is now regular on the island took shelter from the wind and rain where it could.

 

 Photos AEH

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