Jersey Birds

An overcast day, but with less hill fog, feeling cold at 8c in light south-easterly winds.

Corbiere proved productive for seawatching this morning. Seen in three hours were a Great Northern Diver, 12 Red-throated Divers, a Common Scoter, 2 Mallard at sea, 26 Brent Geese, 21 Cormorants, 46 Shags, 173 Guillemots, 56 Razorbills, a Fulmar, 46 Gannets, 18 Mediterranean Gulls, 6 Kittiwakes, 11 Black-headed Gulls, a Lesser Black-backed Gull, 46 Great Black-backed Gulls, 2 Common Gulls, a Grey Heron, 2 Peregrines hunting together and 3 Woodpigeons arriving off the sea from the West. Also of note were cetaceans, with 12 Bottle-nosed Dolphins, c15 Common Dolphins and 2 Porpoises seen.  At Petit Port were 39 Brent Geese and 25 Curlews.

On the foggy northwest coast, at Crabbe, were a Hen Harrier, a Marsh Harrier, a Stonechat, a Reed Bunting, 70 Chaffinches, 4 Choughs and a Raven, while at Plemont were 12 Reed Buntings, 120 Chaffinches, 8 Song Thrushes, a Marsh Harrier and a Raven.

Seen from the Wetland Centre were 6 Pochard, 2 Teal, 3 Cormorants, a Water Pipit, 2 Snipe and a Little Grebe while at Kempt Tower were a Water Rail, 2 Little Grebes and 7 Shovelers. Also in St Ouen's Bay, at Sands, were 3 Ringed Plovers, 17 Sanderlings and 9 Dunlin. At La Pulente were 4 Brent Geese, a Great Crested Grebe and 7 Little Egrets and at Le Pulec were 9 Little Egrets and a Peregrine.  On St Ouen's Beach were 10 Mediterranean Gulls, 2 Common Gulls, 7 Black-headed Gulls and 10 Great Black-backed Gulls and a seawatch from Grosnez saw one diver sp, 2 Razorbills, 6 Gannets, 3 Ravens and 4 Porpoises.

Good numbers of birds around La Rocque included a Great Northern Diver, 2 Slavonian Grebes, a Black-necked Grebes, 2 Shovelers, 9 Red-breasted Mergansers, a Knot, 520 Dunlin, 300 Sanderlings, 210 Grey Plovers, 6 Ringed Plovers, 125 Turnstones, 4 Greenshanks, 39 Redshanks, 165 Oystercatchers including a bird colour-ringed in Iceland and 2 in Chausey In fields behind Seymour were 8 Common Gulls, 7 Mediterranean Gulls and c500 Black-headed Gulls.

At La Sente were a pair of Wigeon, 4 Grey Herons, 7 Little Egrets, 8 Redshanks, 2 Brent Geese and 9 Pied Wagtails and in Le Hocq Lane were 5 Redwings and a Cattle Egret. Another 11 Cattle Egrets were opposite Holmefield and 3 more were at Rozel Manor.

Elsewhere, at Beaumont Marsh were a Pintail, a Teal, 6 Shovelers, a Marsh Harrier, 8 Redwings and a Grey Wagtail. On Beauport Common were a Stonechat, 40 Meadow Pipits and a Great Spotted Woodpecker and at Gorselands were a Peregrine, a Raven and another Great Spotted Woodpecker. On the North coast, at Egypt Wood, were 2 Firecrests, 2 Ravens and a Kestrel.

In Vallee des Vaux were 2 Firecrests, a Goldcrest, a Redwing, a Song Thrush, 22 Magpies and flying over, 19 Ravens and 9 Woodcock at Dusk.

Below:  Bottle-nosed Dolphins in flight at Corbiere this morning   MD