1st-10th Sept

The first few days of September continued in the same way august ended, with some exciting records of unusual migrants and a first ringing for Alderney.

2 Manx Shearwaters were seen on the 6th & 7th off Mannez lighthouse with a single Balearic Shearwater also on the 7th. On the 4th a Great White Egret headed over Essex hill NE towards France but then turned SW and out to SW sea towards Guernsey. 2 Teal were feeding on Longis Pond on the evening of the 8th. Honey Buzzards continued to flow through with counts of 20 on the 1st and 38 on the 2nd. Singles were reported up until the 7th. Common Buzzards were moving too with single flock high counts of 6 on the 1st and 7 on the 3rd. Kestrel numbers are increasing with juveniles joining us from the continent, something we have seen the previous two autumns at this time of year, 5 birds were seen on the 5th. Single Hobby’s were seen over Longis 1st and 3rd. Water Rails are now calling regularly to one another towards dusk at Mannez and Longis ponds and 2 showed well at Longis on the 8th. Ringed Plovers peaked at 26 on the 10, 2 to 3 Grey Plovers are spending time along the shoreline between Longis and Saye Bay. A Lapwing was at Whitegates on the 3rd and a single bird was also seen at Longis on the 5th. 6 Sanderling were seen off the NE coast 1st of the month, there were 3 Snipe on Longis pond at dusk on the 3rd and 2 Bar-tailed Godwits have been regularly seen in Longis Bay daily to the 10th. At least one Whimbrel has also been seen daily. A Redshank was reported on the 4th and Turnstones on the 3rd (Longis bay 3) and 7th (Saye bay 1 ). 6 Mediterranean Gulls were seen on the 6th & 7th and 2 Kittiwakes seen off Corbletts bay on the 3rd. Swift records made it into September with 5 seen on the 1st and on the 2nd. A Kingfisher was settled on the post at the rear of Longis pond on the 2nd. The situation with the flurry of Wrynecks escalated during the first week of September with birds popping up all over the place leaving us to guestimate a minimum of 8 birds on total. On the 4th and 5th we had the 4th and 5th wrynecks ringed this autumn, further field sightings included 1 seen at Essex hill on the 2nd, 2 on the 7th ( one at Essex the other on the golf course) the latter bird seen to be taken by a Sparrowhawk, then another at Mannez Quarry on the 8th. A 1st year male Great spotted Woodpecker was ringed at Essex on the 4th, this is the first time this species has been ringed on the island, they are classed here as a rare visitor. Meadow Pipit numbers continue to rise with 50-70 birds recorded most days.Rock Pipits numbers reached 22 along the NE shoreline on the 10th. White Wagtails are also on the move with 15 seen on the 5th, Yellow Wagtails are being seen in 1’s or 2’s daily. A female Redstart was on the track to Fort Albert 4th-6th, a high count of 12 Whinchats were recorded on the 4th, Wheatears reached 8 on the 8th. The island having recorded 2 Icterine Warblers ever, the two birds ringed at the end of August doubled the all time total only for a third ( and un-ringed) bird to be spotted by Justin during the observatory daily census at Mannez quarry on the 4th. Willow Warblers are still moving through with 15 recorded on the 10th. A single Firecrest was at Mannez quarry on the 6th. Around 10 Spotted Flycatchers have been record so far this month, single Pied Flycatchers were seen at Houme Herbe on the 2nd and Barrackmasters Lane on the 4th. The Greenfinch flock is at around 100 birds in the vicinity of Whitegates, and well worth a scan through these next few weeks for more unusual species.