Saturday 27 April 2013

Hoody

I was at the obs again this morning, but the 15 mph northerly wind was too much for any mist netting. It was cold too and it was very much a hat and gloves morning!

There were a few grounded migrants around but not many; these included two Whitethroats, three Grasshopper Warblers, four male Wheatears (Greenland types) and a single Willow Warbler.

As I made my way towards the coast the first visible migrants started moving and in total I had 106 Linnets, seven Redpolls, 46 Meadow Pipits, 11 Alba Wagtails, 35 Swallows, 74 Goldfinches, two Sand Martins, 12 Siskins, a White Wagtail, a Yellow Wagtail and two Tree Pipits.

The 'Hoody' in my title refers to a Hooded Crow I picked up out at sea heading north. And with the magic of modern telecommunications I phoned Ian, who I knew was a mile or so north of me at the scar, to let him know a Hooded Crow was heading his way and he in turn phoned Paul, who was at the observation tower, to let him know as well. Both Ian and Paul saw the Hoody!

Movement offshore was very slow and all I had were three Red-throated Divers, ten Common Scoters, five Gannets, 10 Auk sp., ten Sandwich Terns and three Whimbrels.

Back home I checked my moth trap and even though there was a ground frost this morning I managed to catch three Hewbrew Characters, a Common Quaker and an Early Grey.

Common Quaker

 Hebrew Character

The wind is going to veer southwesterly overnight with some rain coming in during the morning. Unfortunately the rain is coming in long after sunrise, which is a shame because otherwise there might have been a chance that it could drop in some  migrants. Mind you the weathermen could get the timing wrong, so there is only one thing to do, get up at 5.00 a.m. and take a look!

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