by Greg Lee
It was almost a complete 180-degree turn for today’s census with Storm Dave bringing the exact opposite of the weather conditions I had enjoyed on yesterday’s census. Instead, an F5 WSW wind was blowing across the island, and we were completely enveloped in a thick fog complete with spells of (mercifully) light rain. Usually censuses at the moment produce a total of between 35-40 species in good weather, but with viewing so difficult, I could only muster 27 species this morning, which was ten less than yesterday. However, I was able to produce a year-tick for the island when I picked up a Stock Dove in flight over Millcombe Valley. The bird seemed quite unsettled and seemed to fly around the valley several times before disappearing somewhere, clearly it didn’t enjoy the company of its bigger cousins, the Woodpigeons, which were also hunkering down in the trees. A very small total of Warblers was sheltering in Millcombe, with Willow Warblers leading the majority and the Treecreeper was again scrambling up a tree trunk on the slopes of the valley. The Landing Bay was actually easier to view then yesterday with a single Guillemot, a couple of Razorbills and a modest number of Shags in the sheltered waters. Off Benjamin’s Chair, the Razorbills were still gathering as we fast approach the time of year where the bustling seabird colonies are most active. It was most surprising in the murk to hear a Skylark still bursting in song near the airfield, clearly it doesn’t want to put spring on hold. With the weather being so unpleasant, today presented a good opportunity to catch up with the very important job of data-entry and so for much of late morning and early afternoon I was collating the recent bird sightings onto the online data log before preparing for a kitchen porter shift in the evening.
Stock Dove by G.Lee
Elsewhere, Rosie, who was been helping out with ringing this week reported a Curlew flying off the West Coast and a Hooded Crow hybrid was found in Tillage Field by Eleanor and Thomas. After the past couple of days of triple-figure counts, a lone Sand Martin battling the winds at Pondsbury was a bit of a sorry sight.
Hooded x Carrion Crow by T. Weston