by Alderney Bird Warden | Dec 25, 2023
A terrific sea-watch for an hour from first light this morning, a strong WSW wind brought an almost unbroken chain of Kittiwakes heading west with too many to count at times but a conservative total of 1300 in an hour would be fair. Auks, mostly Razorbills with some 300 on the sea just off Mannez Lighthouse and at least 3 times that amount also heading West. A real joy to see such large numbers of birds of any species given the increasing pressures they have faced in recent years.
2024 is shaping up to be another exciting and progressive year working on a variety of research projects as we continue to learn about and evidence the importance of Alderney for migratory birds; Happy Christmas everyone.
by Alderney Bird Warden | Dec 9, 2023
And still they come… just one record in Alderney until this autumn and on average less than 100 are recorded across the British Isles each year but we have now ringed an amazing 54 Common Redpolls over the last few weeks.
Photo by Matt Scragg, a fine male Common Redpoll.
by Alderney Bird Warden | Dec 5, 2023
Our highest ever count of Great Northern Divers saw 3 together on the rising tide at Braye Bay this morning.
Photo (JH) one of todays GND’s.
by Alderney Bird Warden | Dec 5, 2023
A string of sightings today of locally uncommon or scarcely recorded species included a Red-throated Diver found by visiting Hampshire based birdwatcher Tommy Saunders, 2 Great Northern Divers, Cattle Egret, Common Gull, Merlin, Kingfisher and Hooded Crow.
Photo (JH) todays Kingfisher catching fish in rockpools at Braye Bay.
by Alderney Bird Warden | Dec 1, 2023
A Yellow-browed Warbler was amongst the ringing this morning, this is the latest ever island record.
Photo by Matt Scragg.
