I had an hour or so having a seawatch this morning before driving around to Bishopstone for a walk around. Birds noted included 229 Brent Geese, 2 Shelduck, 2 Oystercatcher, 11 Turnstone, 21 Black headed Gull, 1 Mediterranean Gull, 4 Common Gull, 236 Herring Gull, 2 Great Black backed Gull, 6 Great crested Grebe, 6 Red throated Diver, 7 Cormorant, 1 Peregrine and 1 Cetti's Warbler. Bistopstone had 2 Stock Dove, 13 Woodpigeon, 8 Collared Dove, 1 Great spotted Woodpecker, 1 Green Woodpecker, 5 Magpie, 5 Blue Tit, 3 Great Tit, 5 Skylark, 2 Long tailed Tit, 1 Goldcrest, 1 Firecrest, 22 Starling, 2 Song Thrush, 6 Blackbird, 9 Dunnock, 18 House Sparrow, 1 Pied Wagtail, 1 Meadow Pipit, 3 Chaffinch and 19 Linnet.  The year list remains stuck on 87 species. Hopefully the next few weeks will start to see some migrants appearing. 

Linnet

With rain falling yet again and the visibility not that good, I had an hour or so having a seawatch from 7am. Birds noted included 252 Brent Geese, 4 Shelduck, 1 male Red breasted Merganser west, 2 Oystercatcher, 4 Redshank, 12 Turnstone, 1 Sanderling, 1 Kittiwake east, 37 Black headed Gull, 2 Common Gull, c60 Herring Gull, 3 Great Black backed Gull, 2 Great crested Grebe, 1 Red throated Diver, 8 Cormorant, 1 Peregrine, 4 Carrion Crow, 1 Cetti's Warbler, 2 Starling, 1 Pied Wagtail and 1 Dunnock. 

With a brisk NNE wind blowing this morning, I spent 3 hours in freezing conditions seawatching where I noted 164 Brent Geese, 2 Shelduck, 3 Teal, 1 Red breasted Merganser, c30 Feral Pigeon, 1 Curlew, 2 Sanderling, 3 Kittiwake, 232 Black headed Gull, 1 Mediterranean Gull (87), 51 Common Gull, 60 Herring Gull, 1 Great Black backed Gull, 4 Great crested Grebe, 23 Red throated Diver, 85 Cormorant, 2 Peregrine and 5 Carrion Crow. Nocmig recording Thursday night produced 1 Moorhen and 1 Grey Plover. 

Moorhen

I was out early Sunday morning early where unfortunately again, I failed to find any Long eared Owls calling. They must be out here somewhere. Birds I did note included 1 Tawny Owl, 3 Grey Partridge and 1 Grey Heron (86) calling in the dark. I then watched the sea for a few hours in a light wind which produced 24 Brent Geese, 2 Shelduck, 1 Mallard, 2 Red breasted Merganser west, c40 Feral Pigeon, 1 Collared Dove, 15 Oystercatcher, 2 Golden Plover, 1 Curlew, 24 Redshank, 29 Turnstone, 57 Black headed Gull, 1 Common Gull, 72 Herring Gull, 4 Great Black backed Gull, 8 Great crested Grebe, 44 Red throated Dover, 10 Cormorant, 1 Peregrine, 3 Jackdaw, c50 Rook, 2 Skylark and 1 Pied Wagtail.

I was out at 7am this morning where I had a look at the sea for an hour or so before having a look at Bishopstone. As seems to be the case most days recently, it was cloudy with rain moving in towards the end of the session. Birds noted included 2 Red breasted Merganser (82) sitting on the sea first thing before flying east, c300 Brent Geese, 1 Mute Swan (83) flew east, 1 Shelduck, 1 Mallard (84) flew west close inshore, a scarce bird here despite good numbers being seen at Reculver and Swalecliffe. There were c60 Feral Pigeon, 31 Woodpigeon, 3 Collared Dove, 25 Oystercatcher, 2 Curlew, 8 Redshank, 12 Turnstone, c60 Black headed Gull, 2 Common Gull, 2 Great Black backed Gull, 7 Great crested Grebe, 38 Red throated Diver, 7 Cormorant, 1 Great spotted Woodpecker, 1 Jay, 14 Carrion Crow, 2 Raven (85) flew low west over Bishopstone, 5 Skylark, 2 Song Thrush, 3 Dunnock, 20 House Sparrow, 4 Chaffinch, 41 Linnet and 4 Goldfinch. 

Nocmig recording Wednesday night produced 1 Coot (81) calling as it flew over in the darkness. Like the Moorhen, a bird I will probably never see on the patch, although I have heard them calling at dawn in the dark last year. Four Ringed Plover were also recorded flying over. 

Coot

With a hospital appointment late morning, I was able to grab an hour beforehand watching the sea which was flat calm. Birds noted included 13 Brent Geese, 2 Shelduck, c50 Feral Pigeon, 1 Collared Dove, 10 Oystercatcher, 29 Redshank, 8 Turnstone, 1 Sanderling, c30 Herring Gull, 1 Great Black backed Gull, 11 Great crested Grebe, 160 Red throated Diver, 1 Great Northern Diver, 46 Cormorant, 1 Pied Wagtail, 1 Peregrine, 2 Jackdaw and 4 Starling. It was pleasing to see the Black Redstart again. Nocmig recording Tuesday night produced 2 Moorhen (80) calling over the area, a bird I will hopefully hear at some point but will probably never see on the patch. 

Moorhen