Tuesday 14 August 2012

11-09-2012: The Morning After the Night Before

Last night I went petreling with Bernie, The Boss, Jess (my undergraduate helper), and Sean. We sat for 4 hours on the dark side of the island, deafening ourselves with eerie calls and watching the shooting stars, cursing whenever the cloud parted to bathe us in moonlight. We had brie and home-made soda bread, but no petrels.

Up on the morning of the 11th I took Bernie straight to the ferry and went for a stomp around the point. It was late on (gone 9!) and was beginning to fill with dog walkers; but, the easterly breeze was keeping most of the world at bay, as well as carrying past plenty of shags (7), manxies (4), gannets (2), gulls, and the odd cormorant (2). Inland, under Ravenscraig, the swallows were feeding over the meadow, and the female sparrowhawk made an ineffectual grab at a wood pigeon.

With all the people around most of the usual stuff was out of sight but there was still plenty to be heard, with black bird "chucking", wrens scolding, and whitethroat grumbling in the brambles by the gate. More noises out on the shore too, with the curlew calling in the distance as they lifted in response to a passing family, and the keening begging of immature herring gulls. And they weren't the only ones, beside the path behind Farland Bight busy sedge warblers were backward and forward feeding young hidden in the gorse. It was a good day for insect feeders all round as the craneflies swarmed in their hundreds in the long grass.

With all the people around I wasn't out long (about an hour), and retired for a coffee on the doorstep to watch the feeders in case any of the fledging sprawks was up for some target practice. Alas, no such luck.

Totals

  • Jackdaws - 8 - Ravenscraig cliffs
  • Carrion Crow - 3
  • Rock Pippit - 1
  • Blue tit
  • Great tit
  • Coal Tit
  • Dunnock
  • Chaffinch
  • Greenfinch - 1
  • Willow Warbler - 1
  • Sedge Warbler - 2 (+juvs in nest)
  • Whitethroat - 3
  • Stonechat - 1
  • Wren - 5
  • Robin - 5
  • Blackbird - 2
  • Swallows
  • Cormorant - 2
  • Shag - 7
  • Manx Shearwater - 4
  • Gannet - 2
  • Curlew - 3
  • Oyster Catcher - 4
  • Herring Gull - 6 ad, 3 juv
  • Common Gull - 3
  • Grey heron - 1 (missing secondaries on both wings, very disinctive)
  • Sparrowhawk - 2 (male and female)

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