17th April 2018

GEORGE V AVENUE: Bonxies were the feature of the day with 46 passing by 11:00 (including flocks of seven and five). The supporting cast included nine Arctic Skuas east and a party of six westbound Manx Shearwaters, plus an Arctic Tern feeding offshore for a while. A lone Little Tern went through early on and 88 Sandwich Terns, six Common Terns and 23 'Commics' were recorded. Two Whimbrel flew past and Mediterranean Gulls were still on the move, with 41 birds logged mostly moving east. Later in the watch an adult Little Gull flew the same way. 57 Common Gulls and 18 Black-headed Gulls were also noted. 182 Common Scoters moved through, three Velvets among them, and 70 Dark-bellied Brent Geese were counted. Other species included a Red-breasted Merganser, 28 Red-throated Divers, 15 Fulmars, 72 Gannets, three Dunlin, three Kittiwakes, a Swallow in-off and four Linnets along the beach. DKC/NB/M.Peacock More detail HERE.

MARINE GARDENS : I spent two hours (07:30- 09:30) on the beach at Marine Gardens this morning in a fresh, rather cool SSW wind. The following is the sum of the birds seen:- JN

DIRECTION	West	East
DIVER SP		3
RED-THROATED DIVER		3
GREAT CRESTED GREBE	1	1os
FULMAR	3	1
MANX SHEARWATER	1
GANNET	13	26
CORMORANT	1	5
BRENT GOOSE		19
COMMON SCOTER		36
OYSTERCATCHER		2
ARCTIC SKUA		8
GREAT SKUA		17
MEDITERRANEAN GULL		21
BLACK-HEADED GULL	1	10
COMMON GULL	3	28
LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL		1
GREAT BLACK-BACKED GULL		6
KITTIWAKE	1	1
SANDWICH TERN		56
COMMIC TERN		16
AUK SPECIES		1

BROOKLANDS PARK: A Common Sandpiper was a surprise find on the newly excavated island amongst the roosting gulls. Little else to report here, a singing Chiffchaff and 6 Greater-black backed Gulls and 3 Lesser-black Backed Gulls with the many Herring Gulls. NB

Common Sandpiper - main lake at Brooklands Park NB