Whitethroats!

4 Hummingbird Hawkmoths on the power station perimeter wall this morning. The walk from there to the observatory taking in the lighthouse garden, station scrub, West Beach and Lloyds saw just a couple of Common Whitethroats, a Black Redstart and a Peregrine. After a cup of tea at the observatory where a Tree Pipit flew over, I decided to wander around the Desert without any expectations. 3 Wheatears around The Moat were a good start and as soon I reached the Gorse Common Whitethroats started appearing, by the time I'd covered The Desert, shingle and scrub up to Kerton Road I'd seen  c100 Common Whitethroats, with much smaller numbers of Lesser Whitethroats and Reed Warblers, also 4 Yellow Wagtails, Green and Great Spotted Woodpecker, a nice Tit flock of Blue, Great and Long-tailed Tits with a few Chaffinches tagging along, 2 Marsh Harriers, a Common Buzzard and Sparrowhawk. Back at the observatory a very pale Common Buzzard came over, joined by a normal plumaged bird and a Marsh Harrier, they flew out over the power station then seemingly saw the sea and changed there minds and headed back inland.

worn adult Lesser Whitethroat

Reed Warbler

fresh juvenile Lesser Whitethroat

2 very different Common Buzzards over the observatory

Black Redstart at Lloyds

Bedstraw Hawkmoth at the observatory courtesy of Barry Banson.

A visit to Hanson saw all the usual wildfowl, Cormorants and Gulls but little of note.

An hour at the fishing boats this afternoon topped up my sun tan but was a total non event avian wise.

Wood Sandpiper from Makepiece

Late afternoon on Burrowes 19 Black-tailed Godwits, 19 Dunlin, 18 Ringed Plover, 2 Redshank, 2 Turnstone, 4 Common Sandpipers, a Green Sandpiper, a Wood Sandpiper, Great White Egret and a Sandwich Tern over all from Firth and Makepiece.