A good 'sea-watch' for the lucky few today.

Monday 11th April 2022.

One of two Angle Shades moths in my moth box yesterday.

While I was busy at work today, the south coast experienced a really productive superb sea-watch and whether you were watching from Hampshire or West Sussex, it certainly was a red-letter day for those lucky enough to be either retired or having the time off to be on the south coast to experience a superb passage of birds through the Solent.

The Light-bellied Brent Goose filmed earlier this month at Farlington Marshes. I don't often come across this race of Brent Goose on my travels, but this bird performed nicely in the sunshine.  

After yesterday's lack of wind and the hopeful South-easterlies never really materialised, today was completely different. A blustery south-easterly came in and produced a good array of birds for those lucky birders. Kicking off with Hampshire, 2 Pomarine Skuas and good numbers of both Arctic and Great Skua went through as well huge numbers of Sandwich Terns with smaller numbers of both Common and Little Terns! 6 Little Gulls went through off Hill Head and 3 Garganey were on the sea, while Andy J had 6 off Sandy Point! As well as seabirds, a Merlin came in off the sea at Sandy Point and a Hobby flew over Hill Head. A few Ring Ouzels were found today, with a male at Old Winchester Hill and a pair at Burridge, near Southampton.

The sound of Spring. This vocal Chiffchaff was seen a week Saturday ago at Chichester Gravel Pits.

Off Selsey Bill, I think the guys there had the lion's share of the goodies seen today with totals including: 3 Pomarine Skua, 22 Arctic Skua, 6 Great Skua, 1,300+ Sandwich Tern, 2 Little Tern, 3 Garganey, 21 Velvet Scoter, Merlin and 3 Yellow Wagtails in off the sea. One of the ‘Lazee Birders’ said it was one of the best sea-watches he has ever been on.

A couple of dark-phased Arctic Skua's through over the Solent this morning. Photo by Andy Friend.

Meanwhile, I had to work and it was The Oaks Crematorium where I had the most notable sightings. A female Sparrowhawk flew over the woods and a Common Buzzard was also seen a few seconds later. Both Chiffchaff and Blackcap were in full song within the woods as well as a Nuthatch, but all were singing deep within the woodland. On Sunday morning, my moth box held a couple of cracking Angle Shades, but absolutely nothing else due to the very cold temperatures overnight. It is supposed to be getting a lot warmer this week and so I might be a bit more successful with the moths this week. Stop Press: as I write this update to my blog, my first Brimstone moth of the year has just settled by my moth box tonight along with a Double-striped Pug!