On sunday we joined Pete Leonard and Nick Crouch, and I drove us to Gib Point to work the Scrub and Sand Dunes to see if we could pick up any migrants. Winds on the coast haven't exactly been favourable, but a few breaths of north-easterlies overnight gave us some hope.
We pitched up at 7am and worked the west dunes and around the Sykes Farm area til around mid-morning, but it was quickly evident that there hadn't been any sort of influx of birds, with very little moving around, aside from the odd Chiffchaff and small numbers of Goldcrest. Whilst we were watching a group of Swallows I picked up a Pied Flycatcher, sat in elders by the Roadside Pond, where there seemed to be a hive of activity, but it soon disappeared and wasn't picked up by anyone else. After watching a Kingfisher for a time, we decided to relocate to the East dunes, working our way from the field centre, back towards the car. Aside from several Reed Buntings and Mipits by the Obs and 9 Pink-feet flying over (relocated by Tennysons Sands later), there was very little to see, the dunes being very quiet indeed
Tennysons sands held some wader interest, holding around 250 Black-tailed Godwit, as well as c30 Avocet (including a colour ringed bird), several greenshank and a pintail. After this we headed back around Sykes Farm with no joy, and tried unsuccessfully to see some reported Yellow-browed Warblers at Aylmer Avenue.
After some chips at Skeg, we recced Chapel Six Marshes and Wolla Bank, a couple of sites further up the coast. Both were quiet, but Wolla Bank in particular seemed like it had potential and I managed a Wheatear on the beach, as well as a very close-in Guillemot on the sea (about 30m out!). Pete and Nick had a good explore and it was agreed it was certainly a site to consider in the future.
Looking forward to exploring more of this coastline, I'm hoping to get out there again in two weeks time, hopefully with some more easterlies and some more birds!
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| Sunny birding over the Saltmarsh |
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