Wet and Windy

Grey Plover - Mudbank.

Foul, wet and windy weather for much of today. An early morning look at Maer Rocks produced 7 Purple Sandpipers, 4 Common Scoters and 4 Fulmars south. Good numbers of  auks, Gannets and Kittiwakes on the move too. Off Mudbank - 16 Pintail and a single Grey Plover.
Yesterday, a similar watch off Maer Rocks, in drier but nonetheless windy conditions, produced hundreds of auks, good numbers of Gannet and Kittiwake, 4 Red-throated Divers, a very probable Black-throated Diver, 5 Purple Sandpipers, 4 Turnstones, 88 Dark-bellied Brent Geese, 1 Pale-bellied Brent Goose, 4 Common Scoters and 1 Fulmar. Additionally, a flock of c25 Jackdaws was wheeling around and a flock of c4/500+ Black-headed Gulls was doing the same.

Off Mudbank - 500+ Black-headed Gulls (possibly the seafront flock), c60 Common Gulls, 6 Lesser Black-backed Gulls (a sign of some early movement), c60 Bar-tailed Godwits, 300+ Dark-bellied Brent Geese, 18 Wigeon, 2 Teal, 4 Great Crested Grebes, 9 Pintail and c15+ Sanderlings on Cockle Sands. Late in the afternoon 55+ Cattle Egrets flew into roost north of Starcross.

No sign of the Glossy Ibis flock yesterday but in Maer Valley - 5 Little Egrets, c40+ Redwings and a Chiffchaff. Nearby on Orcombe Point c50 Snipe and one of the female Cirl Buntings.

Finally, a quick look at Withycombe Raleigh Common produced 3 Dartford Warblers and a single Kestrel.

Pale-bellied Brent Goose with Dark-bellied birds on Maer Rocks yesterday.

A large, high-flying flock of Black-headed Gulls was off the seafront, yesterday morning. Estimated to be c4/500 birds. A short while later, a flock of 500+ birds was counted, resting on the mud off Mudbank. Presumably the same birds.