Still comprehensively dreary but, with a little less of a breeze blowing, just a little more birdable today. New arrivals were few and far between, with the best being single
Fieldfares at the Bill and Southwell, 150
Starlings arriving from the south at the Bill and 4
Pintail and 3
Grey Plovers through at Ferrybridge. Long-stayers were well recorded and included 5
Purple Sandpipers and singles of
Water Rail,
Cetti's Warbler,
Dartford Warbler and
Firecrest at the Bill, another
Dartford Warbler at Barleycrates Lane, the 2
Goosanders at Ferrybridge and 5
Black Redstarts dotted about. The sea was busy numbers-wise, with 5
Brent Geese and 2
Red-throated Divers of note off the Bill, whilst 340
Brent Geese, 250
Dunlin and 96
Cormorants were worthwhile totals amongst the waterfowl and waders at Ferrybridge.
Always an infrequent sight at Portland, today's Pintails through at Ferrybridge were the latest additions to what's looking likely to be one of the better annual totals of this species © Pete Saunders:
An interesting event that's been unfolding at Ferrybridge in recent mornings has been a mass gathering of Cormorants - there were 96 there today - that have been gorging on a glut of fair-sized (up to 8" long) fish in the tide-pool beside the car park; it's speculated that either the fish were pushed up into the pool during the recent stormy weather and have now got stuck there or perhaps the Cormorants are driving them into the pool at high tide. Thanks to Debby Saunders for the information and photo © Debby Saunders:
