Birding in the wind

The weather this morning was poor, a brisk southwesterly wind bringing horizontal rain and low visibility. With no option to open the nets, bird watching was the only thing.

A couple of hours at the tip in the morning produced a few quality birds, no quantity.

Migrants from the tip included

Dunlin 8
Curlew Sandpiper 1
Grey Plover 5
Redshank 1
Greenshank 1
Curlew 1
Snipe 2
Black Tern 2
Little Gull 1

With the migration tap switched off it was back to the station. Gert arrived and the three of us headed to Bøtø. A brief look between showers produced an impressive list of migrant waders.

Dunlin 35
Curlew Sandpiper 3
Ruff 17
Ringed Plover 18
Little Ringed Plover 1
Whimbrel 26
Curlew 2
Wood Sandpiper 21
Green Sandpiper 4
Common Sandpiper 3
Greenshank 7
Snipe 2
Temminck's stint 1

Also an impressive show from 2 Great white egrets, amongst 16 Grey Heron and a pair of White-tailed eagles were also observed.

In the afternoon a net was opened briefly but no new birds were caught. Hans brought Anton to the station in the evening, he will stay a fortnight, learning to ring and bird watching. Some wader traps were dusted off and placed by the freshwater pond in the south field, where common and green sandpiper have been frequenting. Fingers crossed for some success.

The weather tomorrow is improving with a dry but windy morning. We should be able to complete standardised, though conditions aren't favourable for migration.

Thanks for reading,

Craig