by Romano da Costa
•
21 Apr, 2024
21.04.2024 A handsome male Wheatear in St Ouen's Bay RdC A sunny day with a chilly north-easterly wind. A good number of migrants were seen around the island today, with the best of the bunch being a male Garganey , 3 Little Ringed Plover and 2 Spoonbill all at St Ouens Pond. Also seen around St Ouens Pond were 9 Swift , 500+ Swallow , 80 House Martin , 60 Sand Martin , 4 Yellow Wagtail , 57 Whimbrel flying over, the White-fronted Goose , the Pink-footed Goose , the Barnacle Goose , a Gadwall , 8 Shoveler , a Wigeon , 2 Oystercatcher , the male Shelduck , 8 Lapwing which were protecting at least 3 chicks, 2 Grey Heron , 2 Snipe , a Peregrine , 7 Reed Warbler, a Sedge Warbler , a Willow Warbler , 3 Blackcap , 3 Wheatear , 35 Linnet , a Siskin and a male Reed Bunting . Seen at Sorel early on were a ringtail Hen Harrier , 2 Ring Ouzel , a Yellow Wagtail, a Whitethroat and a Peregrine while passing Plemont were 335 Swallow , 54 House Martin , 4 Sand Martin , 4 Swift , 45 Linnet , 8 Raven , 6 Chough , a Sparrowhawk and 2 Razorbill offshore. A 40 minute watch at Noirmont produced a Swift , 161 Swallow , 44 House Martin , 11 Sand Martin , a Yellow Wagtail , 4 Willow Warbler and 5 Chiffchaff . At La Sente were 2 Little Ringed Plover , 5 Yellow Wagtail , 19 White Wagtail , a Pied Wagtail , 2 Shelduck , 2 Lesser Black-backed Gull , 15 Swallow , 6 Sand Martin , 5 House Martin and a Marsh Harrier while in Vallee des Vaux were 16 Swallow , a Sand Martin , 2 House Martin and 4 Raven . At Kempt Tower were singing Whitethroat , a Sedge Warbler and a Blackcap while up on Mont Matthieu were a Cetti's Warbler , 2 Skylark , 16 House Martin , a Swift and 2 Raven . Elsewhere, 42 Pale-bellied Brent Geese were at St Aubin and 6 Purple Sandpiper were at Corbiere. Below, a recent Greenshank at La Sente RdC