Pom Skua

A lingering Pomarine Skua was the highlight of a seawatch from Teignmouth yacht club from 07:00 - 08:30 this morning. It briefly hassled a passing Gannet, one of 430 logged going south which included a good number of immature birds; reassuring to see after the year the species has had. The hoped-for Great Shearwater failed to materialise but a late Balearic Shearwater flew past along with one unidentified distant shearwater. Also noted were five Great Northern Divers (four south, one on the sea), two Mediterranean Gulls, two Red-breasted Mergansers, one Common Scoter, c.300 Kittiwakes and c.100 auks.

Brambling, Redpoll, Firecrest

A terrific hour of vis mig from the top of Bundle Head yesterday morning, with an almost constant stream of passerines heading south from before sunrise. Goldfinches and Linnets dominated proceedings with 262 and 185 respectively; Redwing (138) and Meadow Pipit (136) were the other species to make three figures. A bit of quality was provided by eight Bullfinches, five Siskins, a Brambling and a Redpoll. Also noted were 49 Chaffinches, 22 Pied/White Wagtails, four Song Thrushes and two Swallows. Nearby a Firecrest was calling in The Ness. 

WeBS, Osprey

Totals from the estuary this morning included 314 Oystercatchers, 68 Curlew, c.40 Redshanks, 20 Turnstones, 19 Dunlin, 15 Greenshanks, three Ringed Plovers, 51 Little Egrets, 36 Mute Swans, c.30 Mallards, six Wigeon, four Teal, two Shelducks, two Little Grebes, 18 Cormorants, two Kingfishers and single Mediterranean and Lesser Black-backed Gulls. An Osprey flew north-east over Flow Point at 08:20, seemingly escaping the detection of most roosting birds before heading inland.

Forty minutes at the top of Bundle Head from sunrise yesterday morning produced 76 Linnets, 34 Goldfinches, 19 Meadow Pipits, 12 Pied/White Wagtails, eight Chaffinches, seven Swallows, six Siskins and three Starlings all heading south, with a Firecrest seen briefly in clifftop scrub.