Charity Bird Race - Sun 7 Sept

Highlights were Hobby, Kingfisher, Yellow Wagtails, Sanderling, Mediterranean Gull and Eiders.

The weather was quite good for our bird race with light winds and some sunshine. We divided into two groups and spent the morning at Pennington Marshes and the afternoon at Normandy Marshes. The following is a summary of the day.
At Pennington Marshes there was a fair bit of migration activity with Swallows and House Martins passing over and several Sand Martins feeding over the lagoons. The girls’ team were lucky enough to see a Great-spotted Woodpecker and a Sparrowhawk along a leafy lane. There were several Yellow Wagtail feeding in the wet grassy fields by Fishtail Lagoon, but not a lot else there apart from Little Grebes and Greenshank. The sea and shore proved more interesting with a Sanderling and a Mediterranean Gull on the shore and a group of 20 or so Eider ducks just offshore, seen by both teams. The boys’ team saw a Common Sandpiper and Bar-tailed Godwit around the lagoons and shoreline and heard a Nuthatch as they got back to the pub for lunch.
After lunch we drove down to Normandy Marshes. There were fewer migrants around, but still some interesting birds. The girls’ team saw several Kingfisher around the lagoons, a Hobby on the shoreline and a Treecreeper along a leafy lane. The boys’ team saw a Lesser Whitethroat along a hedgerow and a Knot on the shoreline.
The final score was 68 to the girls and 66 to the boys making the girls the winners!!! Altogether 76 species were recorded.
Simon Curson