18th April

http://www.at-infocus.co.uk/


A reminder that there's an In Focus field event at the Obs between 10am and 4pm this Saturday, 20th April.

There was relief that the fog that had enveloped the south of the island for the best part of yesterday cleared completely early in the night and it didn't take long before the day's chief highlight was unearthed - a Serin that showed on and off for the rest of the day at Reap Lane; a second individual also passed straight through along West Cliffs during a vis mig watch at Wallsend. Indeed, it was visible passage that provided a good proportion of the day's numbers, with a steady flow of hirundines, Meadow Pipits and finches on the move for the best part of the day (sample counts suggested Swallow, Meadow Pipit, Goldfinch and Linnet likely all topped four figure totals); 12 Tree Pipits, 7 White Wagtails, 6 Yellow Wagtails, a Hobby, Brambling and Siskin were further snippets of interest on the move. A nice little fall-out on the ground included a good 250 Willow Warblers around the south of the island, where 4 Whinchats and singles of Redwing, Grasshopper Warbler, Reed Warbler and Pied Flycatcher were of note amongst the also-ran totals. The sea was never busy but 6 Velvet Scoter through off Chesil and 6 Artic Skuas through off the Bill were of note.

The Reap Lane Serin showed quite nicely at times © Debby Saunders:


And a couple of Blackcaps from yesterday © Debby Saunders: