by Michael Dryden
•
24 February 2026
24.02.2026 A male Marsh Harrier enjoying today's sun at St Ouen's Pond MD At last, a dry and even sunny day, feeling very mild (13c) in the clear skies. Winds were moderate from the south-southeast. Seen in two hours passing Corbiere, were a Common Scoter , 174 Razorbills , 36 Guillemots , 4 Fulmars , 16 Gannets , 8 Cormorants , 31 Shags , 3 Lesser Black-backed Gulls , a Mediterranean Gull , 30 Great Black-backed Gulls , 3 Kittiwakes and 9 Curlews , while in Petit Port Bay were 4 Brent Geese , 2 Purple Sandpipers , 57 Turnstones , 14 Grey Plovers , 140 Oystercatchers and 9 Mediterranean Gulls . At St Ouen's Pond were 35 Shoveler , 8 Pochard , 4 Tufted Duck , a Little Grebe , 3 Grey Herons , a single Lapwing , 6 Marsh Harriers and 2 Buzzards . In the backfields there, were 150 Brent Geese and 120 Stock Dove s. Around Kempt Tower and pools were the Snow Bunting, a singing Skylark , a Little Grebe , 4 Tufted Duck , a pair of Marsh Harrier , a flock of 22 Goldfinches and a Peacock butterfly . In Beaumont Marsh were 380 Brent Geese, a Curlew , 3 Little Egrets and 9 Pied Wagtails , while at St Aubin were 30 pale-bellied Brent Geese , one dark-bellied Brent, and 20 Redshanks . Another 8 pale-bellied Brent Geese were on the beach in St Brelade's Bay. At La sente were 2 Shelduck , 2 Shoveler , 10 Grey Herons , 12 Little Egrets , 41 Cattle Egrets , 19 Common Gulls , 55 Black-headed Gulls , 64 Redshanks and 6 Greenshanks . At La Ferme farm were 21 Redwings , 5 Song Thrushes , 56 Chaffinches , 2 Grey Wagtails , a Pied Wagtai l, a singing Firecrest , a singing Chiffchaff , a Jackdaw and a Raven . also another Peacock butterfly. In the cider orchard near Trinity Church were 7 Fieldfares , 2 Redwings , 5 Chiffchaffs , 2 Goldcrests and a Firecrest and on Rue du Moulin de Bas were 4 Redwings , a Fieldfare , 3 Chiffchaffs , a Goldcrest , a singing Firecrest and another Peacock butterfly. At Les Augerez in St Peter was a flock of 150 Starlings and in St Peter's Technical Park was a Grey Wagtail. Another singing Firecrest and 3 Blackcaps were in Vallee des Vaux. Extras for yesterday : a Dartford Warbler was at Archirondel and a Kingfisher was in Queen's Valley.