Saturday 12 October 2013

COMMON SCOTER the main centre of interest

Early morning saw Stuart Wilson, Dave Bilcock, Allan Stewart, JT and I at Wilstone and following a night of rain and strong NE winds, we were all expecting big things (in more ways than one). An adult KITTIWAKE flew quickly westwards, whilst a juvenile LITTLE GULL flew around for about 15 minutes. An OSPREY flew through mid-morning whilst 2 SCANDINAVIAN ROCK PIPITS commuted between the jetty and the central spit. RED-CRESTED POCHARDS had increased to 7 (including 3 drakes, one of which was a first-year) whilst remaining were the 5 BLACK-TAILED GODWITS, the juvenile RUFF and the 2 DUNLIN; 3 GOLDEN PLOVERS and a GREEN SANDPIPER were seen too, as well as numerous flocks of REDWING and a SISKIN.

Dave had seen a drake COMMON SCOTER fly through early and we relocated it not long after on Startop's End, where it lingered throughout the rest of the day.

Here is a selection of images from this morning...




All 7 RED-CRESTED POCHARDS - 5 together and 2 new ones



Pots of migrating REDWINGS seeping overhead still







A juvenile LITTLE GULL - my first this year













...and this dapper drake COMMON SCOTER

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