My daily visits to St Marys over the past few days have produced a good variety of birds, without there having been anything resembling a fall of migrants. One highlight was a Short eared Owl which I almost stood on in the grass before it hurriedly took flight. Another was seen coming in off the sea a couple of days before. 3 Woodcock have been seen to fly inland and on 14th and 15th 2 or 3 Meally Redpolls feeding at very close range on seed heads. 2 Stonechats have been frequenting the area ,1 watched bathing in a puddle . Goldcrests have been a recent feature,with probably a maximum of 20 noted and a Firecrest has again been seen up to this Monday to my knowledge. 2 Brambling noted on 14th ,with another 8 in the nearby cemetery,more Goldcrests there too. Nice to see yesterday (15th) were 4 Swallows which spent a few hours feeding in the lee of the bushes ,before heading off south. 4 Blackcaps,2 Fieldfares and around 25 Redwings also noted. Good sized flocks of Green and Goldfinches are feeding on the Rosehips and seed-heads in the wetland area.
The fields have been alive with birds and today a Peregrine was filling the air with flocks of Linnets,Starlings,Lapwings,Curlews and Golden Plover (c 2,000), Skylarks and Meadow Pipits.
Recent seawatches have proved very productive, with highlights being record numbers of Great Skuas, a Long tailed Skua juv., several Pom. Skuas, a Leaches Petrel,(MHS). 4 Black throated Divers, Great Northern diver and Red necked Grebe.
A.S.Jack
