01.08.2024 Cormorants are reappearing in numbers around the Island and this immature bird was pictured passing Corbiere MD
A misty and sometimes foggy morning and a fair to cloudy afternoon welcomed August in, still warm at 23c in a west-northwest breeze.
In Grouville Bay this morning were 44 Mediterranean Gulls, 250 Black-headed Gulls, 87 Sandwich Terns, 3 Common Terns, a Greenshank, 2 Redshanks, 3 Ringed Plovers, a Dunlin and a Turnstone.
On the beach in St Ouen's Bay were 5 Mediterranean Gulls, 40 Black-headed Gulls, 4 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, 9 Great Black-backed Gulls and 2 Ringed Plovers. Little was moving off Corbiere in the murky conditions with just 39 Gannets, 4 Cormorants, 19 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, 33 Great Black-backed Gulls and 2 Black-headed Gulls seen. A Willow Warbler was a new arrival there.
22 Swallows headed off from Corbiere, also a Grey Heron and 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, but little else. On the ground were 10+ Willow Warblers, 3 juvenile Stonechats, 3 juvenile Dartford Warblers, a Sparrowhawk and a Kestrel. A Swallowtail butterfly was also seen.
At Elizabeth Castle in St Aubin's Bay were 3 Curlews, a Little Egret and one almost ready to fledge Swift
Below: An image of the Sun, taken this morning through the foggy skies at Corbiere, showing a good number of sunspots MD
