Jersey Birds

09.04.2024  A nice male Gadwall on the Scrape today   MD

A stormy night and morning today with squally showers in a westerly F7 gusting to F9, improving later with a slightly reduced wind

Observers and birds were popping in and out of La Sente  through the day and combined totals of birds seen included 130 Brent Geese, a pair of Shelduck, 6 Cattle Egrets, 5 Little Egrets, a Little Ringed Plover, 19 Curlews, a Yellow-legged Gull, a Black-headed Gull, 2 Blue-headed Wagtails, 6 Yellow Wagtails, 15 alba Wagtails including at least three White Wagtails,  and a good selection of hirundines including at least 20 Swallows and 9 Sand Martins. 2 Shelduck were seen in Grouville Bay this afternoon, perhaps the La Sente birds and at Le Saie in St Martin were 3 Sandwich Terns and 25 Oystercatchers.

The latest Hoopoe report was of one in a garden at Handois. In St Catherine's Woods were numbers of Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps, unusually, a Cetti's Warbler and a drumming Great Spotted Woodpecker.

Seabirds were in short supply at a stormy Corbiere this morning, counts there including 35 Gannets, 20 Fulmars, 13 Guillemots, a Razorbill, 4 Cormorants, 5 Kittiwakes, 31 Great Black-backed Gulls and 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, also 2 Peregrines.

Seen from the Scrape Hide at St Ouen's Pond were a male Wigeon, a male Gadwall, a pair of Shelduck, 4 Brent Geese, 5 Great Black-backed Gulls, 21 Sand Martins, 3 Swallows and 30 Linnets. At Beaumont Marsh were 6 Brent Geese, 4 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, 3 Pied Wagtails and another Peregrine. A Linnet was in song by the Steam Clock in St Helier.

Evening update: At Grands Vaux reservoir were 13 House Martins, a Sand Martin, 3 Swallows and 2 Ravens and 3 House Martins had returned to their breeding site at Le Fevevre this afternoon.