I gave the migration watch an hour this morning, coming up with only five
Red-breasted Mergansers, three
Red-throated Divers and two
Gannets. With work to do, I almost called it a day and headed home but I'm glad I did a short loop of the fields as I stumbled upon a
Snow Bunting on the central road near the beach. Fortunately it didn't flush straight away but when the next car came along it did fly over to the beach, where I saw it pitch down and fully expected to easily relocate it. However, as I put the news out - with Clive, Garry, Gareth and Nick arriving within minutes - it must have given me the slip as none of us could find it anywhere, despite scouring the beach and fields for a couple of hours. On examining my photographs it seems to be a 1CY female. Also noted were 211
Common Gulls (a significant increase), seven adult
Mediterranean Gulls, the female
Stonechat, three
Meadow Pipits, 26
Skylarks, two
Goldcrests, a
Sparrowhawk and five
Pied Wagtails. It was again a strange day for waders, with no high tide roost to speak of and only
Turnstones and an
Oystercatcher seen along the beach either side of the high tide.
 |
| 1CY female Snow Bunting |
At Haskins garden centre, East Preston, later, I had a
Grey Wagtail.
