Strong up-Channel passages of non-local auks aren't too unusual at this time of year and birds in non-breeding plumage pretty well always predominate. Our local breeding auks are in full 'summer' plumage as soon as they return and start prospecting at the colony in October/November - presumably they've already squeezed a complete post-breeding moult into 'winter' plumage and then a partial pre-breeding moult into 'summer' plumage into the three and a bit months between leaving the colony in July and returning in October (since most of this happens way out to sea and so out of scrutiny you do wonder whether some of them even bother with the winter plumage stage and just skip straight from breeding plumage into the next breeding plumage). With birds in winter/non-breeding plumage usually making up the bulk of the spring auk movements - today's ratio was somewhere in the region of 70:30 to 80:20 in their favour - can we assume that they're immatures that aren't going to get into breeding plumage this summer or is there also a component of adults that are just really late getting going with their pre-breeding moult? © Martin Cade:
Lesser Black-backed Gulls often pose plenty of questions, what with all their different races, migration strategies and plumages, but today's birds weren't particularly troublesome since pretty well all of them were nice adult graellsii in crisp breeding plumage © Martin Cade:
There's plenty of variation amongst the last few Brent Geese remaining at Ferrybridge © Pete Saunders:
Three single migrant moths overnight at the Obs: Silver Y new for the year + Rusty-dot Pearl & DSGrass. On the bird front it's not Dungeness or Selsey but a few ducks moving for the first time this spring: 11 Shoveler, 2 Pintail and few more too distant to do
— Portland Bird Observatory (@portlandbirdobs.bsky.social) March 7, 2025 at 9:42 AM
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