randombirder

A quiet, cold and still morning on the pits arriving at around 6.15am.  The dunlin had finally departed but the two greenshank and ringed plover remained.  A new common sandpiper was feeding along the edge of the far bank.  It was also good to see the little ringed plover huddled down on a nest. Two sedge warbler , garden warbler , lesser whitethroat and willow warbler were vocalising in and around the scrub behind the viewpoint.  The two wigeon continued to feed on the grassy bank on the east side. Six swallow flew through.

Spring is doing its thing at Broom.  Today I made three visits narrowly missing out on finding newly arrived waders but revelling in the influx that we all enjoyed at this modest inland waterbody. Bird of the day was undoubtedly the wood sandpiper that dropped in around lunchtime probably ten minutes after I had left for home after a quick mid-day visit.  It stayed for the rest of the day and was a typically impressive bird, the fifth I've seen here in just under two years.  This was on the back of seeing my first ever Broom greenshank that was tucked away in the bay on the southwest side of GLE.  The two oystercatcher remained. The early visit was rewarded with a first hobby of the year at 6.30am shooting through and disappearing over the ploughed fields to the east.  It was the lunchtime visit where the hirundines were plentiful, around 40 sand martin , a pulse of 30 house martin , and seven swallow and 20 swift flying through. A sedge warbler was singi...

The weather turned.  It started wet and very windy that delayed the start of the day.  By late morning there were glimpses of blue sky, and false hopes that the storm was about to clear.  I set off with these vain hopes. Three Sandwich Tern and a 1st year Mediterranean Gull were sat out on the rocks off Porthcressa.  The showers began to pulse through after the brief hiatus but a lot of ground was covered. On The Garrison, a Spotted Flycatcher was present actively feeding within the pines.  A lone  Whinchat  was also present here.   Walking through Lower Moors, a lone Greenshank , a couple of Water Rail , Grey Wagtail , and four House Martin were all on offer. The showers were heavy but there were enough dry spells to keep powering on but there were slim pickings on offer.  A real soaking wrapped up proceedings with the hope for better over the following days.