Miserably wet again today although with a fresh easterly blowing there was a welcome surge of passage on the sea. Both Chesil and the Bill were well-watched before the rain became too heavy, with the former returning totals that included 240
Common Scoter, 98
Sandwich Terns, 57
Kittiwakes, 18
Common Terns, 9
Red-throated Divers, 5
Arctic Skuas, a
Black-throated Diver and a
Great Skua; for the most part the Bill totals were a little lower - save for there being 6
Arctic Skuas and 4
Great Skuas - although 8
Puffins were an unexpected addition there. Limited coverage of the land turned up the first
Common Sandpiper of the spring at Billy Winters, a
Ring Ouzel at Barleycrates Lane and singles of
Redstart and
Black Redstart at the Bill.
Common Sandpipers are notoriously tricky to get a really decent look at on the island so a nice close fly-by at Billy Winters afforded an opportunity not to be missed © Pete Saunders:
Horrible light and great distance hampered opportunities with the day's passage seabirds, with the Chesil providing just token records of an Arctic Skua and one of the scoter flocks © Joe Stockwell:
At the Bill it was routine fare that put on the best show, although a Mediterranean Gull did manage to sneak into one of the Gannet photos
© Steve Gantlett cleybirds: