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

I was out early Saturday morning listening for owls again where as the light picked up, I then had a seawatch for an hour or so in a light wind. Birds noted included 149 Brent Geese, 4 Grey Partridge, 1 Pheasant, 25 Feral Pigeon, 12 Woodpigeon, 5 Collared Dove, 23 Oystercatcher, 4 Golden Plover, 4 Curlew, 19 Redshank, 1 Kittiwake (73) flew east, 140 Black headed Gull, 2 Common Gull, 70 Herring Gull, 3 Great Black backed Gull, 9 Great crested Grebe and 31 Red throated Diver. There were 4 Cormorant, 1 Great Northern Diver (74) flew west, 1 Little Egret (75), 1 Tawny Owl heard in the dark, 2 Great spotted Woodpecker, 1 Green Woodpecker, 2 Peregrine, 5 Blue Tit, 3 Great Tit, 2 Skylark, 1 Song Thrush, 14 House Sparrow, 2 Pied Wagtail, 3 Chaffinch and 41 Linnet. 

I was out again early this morning in the dark where I spent some time in Bishopstone Glen hoping to get a Redwing but did not see or hear any. Other birds noted before a look at the sea from here included 2 Golden Plover, 1 Snipe and 2 singing Song Thrush. A look at the sea produced 270 Brent Geese, 1 Common Scoter, 2 Oystercatcher, 7 Kittiwake flying east, 136 Black headed Gull, 5 Common Gull, 101 Herring Gull, 1 Great Black backed Gull, 6 Great crested Grebe, 4 Red throated Diver, 1 Fulmar (76) flying east, 3 Cormorant, 1 Little Egret, 1 Green Woodpecker, 5 Jackdaw. c30 Rook (77), 1 Firecrest, 1 Grey Wagtail and 1 Meadow Pipit. After dropping my wife off for an appointment, I spent some time watching the sea again where I noted 9 Brent Geese, 5 Teal, 6 Velvet Scoter (78) flew east giving nice scope views, 32 Feral Pigeon, 2 Collared Dove, 13 Oystercatcher, 3 Curlew, 16 Redshank, 18 Turnstone, 3 Little Gull (79) flew east, 1 Kittiwake east, 104 Black headed Gull, 2 Great Black backed Gull, 7 Great crested Grebe, 57 Red throated Diver, 2 Gannet, 21 Cormorant and 4 Carrion Crow. An excellent weekend on the patch with 7 year ticks but still no Redwing or Fieldfare. They can be tricky here early in the year as I remember from last year. 

I was out at the very early time of 5am where I spent some time trying to listen for Long eared Owls at a few areas on the patch. To cut a long story short... I didn't hear any. I did manage to hear 5 Grey Partridge and 4 Golden Plover as the light picked up. I then spent some time watching the sea from the cliffs at Bishopstone for an hour before walking along the seafront and back checking the bushes. Birds noted included 2 Egyptian Geese (66) flying east, 1 Shelduck, 49 Woodpigeon, 6 Collared Dove, 3 Grey Plover (67), 1 Curlew, 1 Turnstone, 6 Sanderling, 110 Black headed Gull, 2 Common Gull, 90 Herring Gull, 2 Great Black backed Gull, 2 Great crested Grebe and 21 Red throated Diver. There were 8 Cormorant, 2 Green Woodpecker, 3 Jackdaw (68), 7 Blue Tit, 3 Great Tit, 2 Skylark, 1 Cetti's Warbler (69), 2 Long tailed Tit, 1 Goldcrest, 1 Firecrest, 1 Song Thrush, 1 Stonechat, 5 Dunnock, 2 Meadow Pipit (70), 1 Chaffinch, 76 Linnet, 6 Goldfinch (71) and 3 Siskin (72). Nocmig recording Saturday night produced 1 White fronted Goose and a few Brent Geese and Ringed Plover calls. 

With a light wind forecast for this morning, I was out at 6am in the hope of catching and owl calling in the area. Around 06:30, I could hear a Tawny Owl which called distantly for c20 minutes. Also in the dark, I managed to hear 3 Golden Plover, 1 Lapwing, 2 Song Thrush singing, 1 Woodcock flew over in silhouette as the light slowly picked up and 7 Grey Partridge were seen and heard calling at dawn. I then had a look at the sea for an hour which was pretty quiet but I did note 125 Brent Geese, 6 Shelduck, c80 Feral Pigeon, 1 Oystercatcher, 17 Redshank, 21 Turnstone, c80 Black headed Gull, 2 Common Gull, 64 Herring Gull, 3 Great Black backed Gull, 50 Great crested Grebe offshore, 12 Red throated Diver, 12 Cormorant, 2 Peregrine Falcon with one seeing carrying prey back to the pier, 2 Pied Wagtail and 1 Grey Wagtail (61) flew over calling. With the sea quiet, I then returned back to the Bishopstone area where I had 2 Stock Dove (62), 11 Woodpigeon, 2 Collared Dove, 2 Green Woodpecker, 2 Jay (63), 8 Blue Tit, 6 Great Tit, 8 Skylark, 5 Long tailed Tit, 2 Goldcrest (64), 2 Wren, 19 Starling, 2 Blackbird, 5 Robin, 4 Dunnock, 22 House Sparrow, 4 Chaffinch and 24 Linnet. Nocmig recording Friday night produced a flock of White fronted Geese (65) over calling early evening and 4 Ringed Plover.

White fronted Geese

A 40 minute look at Bishopstone from 4:20pm until dusk produced 1 Robin, 2 Blackbird, 9 Golden Plover, 10 Grey Partridge, c300 Brent Geese over Reculver and 2 Woodcock at dusk.

Another freezing morning as I left home just after 6am where I spent some time looking and listening for Owls in the darkness. I didn't hear any but the sound recorder which was also out recorded Tawny Owl (53) calling during the night as well as a Pheasant (54). As the light picked up, 2 Grey Partridge called and a few Golden Plover were heard as was a Lapwing (55). A Woodcock (56) zoomed by in silhouette. I then drove over to the seafront where in a light south wind, I had an hour and a half before a brief walk at Bishopstone to warm the feet up. Birds noted included 63 Brent Geese, 19 Shelduck, 5 Gadwall (57) west, 3 Wigeon, 1 Pintail, 5 Pochard (58) flew west, 8 Common Scoter, 4 Oystercatcher, 6 Ringed Plover, 331 Lapwing flew west at sea, 1 Curlew, 1 Snipe, 6 Turnstone, 1 Sanderling, 2 Dunlin, c30 Black headed Gull, 4 Common Gull, 44 Herring Gull, 1 Great Black backed Gull, 3 Great crested Grebe, 79 Red throated Diver, 5 Cormorant and 1 Peregrine. There were 24 Woodpigeon, 4 Collared Dove, 16 Carrion Crow, 5 Blue Tit, 5 Great Tit, 1 Wren (59), 11 Starling, 4 Blackbird, 3 Robin, 1 Dunnock, 5 House Sparrow, 2 Pied Wagtail (60) and 4 Chaffinch. Still a number of species I should get in the next few sessions which include Goldfinch, Rook, Jay, Jackdaw, Goldcrest, Redwing, Fieldfare, Meadow Pipit, Stock Dove, Little Egret, Grey Wagtail and Cetti's Warbler. Hopefully next weekend will deliver something good. 

Tawny Owl