20th May 2024

 Weather: E force 4,  ESE 3 later

 A touch of east and south in the wind brought us a few birds during the morning. Two Willow Warblers were here and a singing Sedge Warbler in the old obs garden, also a total of 4 Whitethroats (2 of which were then ringed).

Overhead passage was limited to 3 Swifts, 2 Siskins, a House Martin and 4 Lesser Redpolls.

Three Collared Doves dashed through the island with another a little later. A young Linnet became the first bird reared this year to be ringed.

A large female Peregrine sat on the sand on the east hoyle briefly. There was plenty of time to look at the sea resulting in an unusal spectacle of a group of 27 Kittiwakes passing west off the north end. More expected sightings were  20 Gannets, 7 Guillemots, 4 Scoter, 2 Razorbill, 2 Great Crested Grebes, 26 Sandwich and 5 Common Terns. Two Whimbrel are still here with 200 Dunlin, 20 Ringed Plover, 4 Sanderling and 9 Turnstone. Ten Shelduck were around the island with 6 others passing through and 6 Eiders were on the whaleback.

Chief among the butterflies today were several Painted Ladies, the underwing is less familiar to most.

  Seen less often here than the Small White (4) is the Large White (1).

 About a dozen Green-veined Whites have been seen each day recently.

A Red Admiral was also on the list. A Marbled Coronet was in the moth trap and a sweep of the grassy areas by our moth expert found lots of Diamondback moths, estimated in 4 figures! Our expert was able to show us a hoverfly that is a mimic of a bee for defensive purposes.

Merodon equestris

 

Ringed: 2 Whitethroats, 1 Willow Warbler, 1 Lesser Redpoll, 1 Linnet. 

Photos GB, SRW