A Black Day

An hour at the sea watch hide this morning was not particularly  productive with c60 Red-throated Divers Divers east, c40 Gannets feeding off shore and very small numbers of Common Scoter, Sandwich Terns and Auks.

A walk around The Point in increasingly strong winds produced a male Black Redstart, a Stonechat and 4 Meadow Pipits a very poor total for April.

The south end of the ARC there were 4 Black-tailed Godwits, 8 Smew (2 drakes) and 3 Goldeneye. New Diggings held 2 Great White Egrets and a red head Smew.

From Hanson and the Screen another Great White Egret and a Chiffchaff  by the track.   

 By lunch time the NE wind had strengthened further making the land virtually unbirdable. In Dengemarsh Gulley a Black Restart and a Wheatear were struggling to perch in the wind, overhead a Peregrine and a Raven made light of the wind. Parking at Springfield Bridge I plodded around the hayfields seeing little of note. Round Hookers 3 Marsh Harriers put on a marvellous aerial display and the Black-necked Grebe shone in the sun.