The morning started with my best ever views of a Grasshopper Warbler - seen while making the short walk across the golf course from the road to the Brickhouse. Perched in the open on some low scrub, it sang for about a minute before dropping back into the bush.
Seawatch from the Brickhouse over an almost
dead calm sea (for a change) produced 10+ Red throated Divers (with a couple in
breeding plumage), 100+ Common Scoter in a single group, about 10 Sandwich Terns
feeding offshore, 1 Gannet and a couple of Guillemots. 2 Whimbrel flew north
then came back and disappeared to the south. A few Swallows and 1 House Martin
also headed north over the sea.
Moving to Ynyslas at the boatyard end, the
Wheatear tour bus had finally arrived with 20+ in the field behind the dunes. At
one point there were 6 perched on the fenceposts in my field of view. Over to
the Leri banks (tide was well out by now), a flock of about 20 Whimbrel were
feeding and a little further along about 50 Bar-tailed Godwits were doing the
same - most of these were in their gorgeous reddish breeding plumage.
As I was about to leave a Merlin flew over
heading south.
Keith Worden