A very enjoyable sea-watch from Gilkicker.

Sunday 10th April 2022.

Sandwich Tern offshore from Gilkicker Point.

Though I had chores to do as demanded by my wife (!), I decided to get up early and make my way to join the ‘Lazee Birders’ at Gilkicker Point for a sea-watch. That meant setting the alarm for 6am and arriving there for a 7am start. Though very cold again overnight, I had put my moth box on. I was pleased to find a couple of Angle Shades within the moth box, though nothing else whatsoever! These were probably migratory individuals and looked quite stunning in the early morning light.

Above, one of many Sandwich Terns going through the Solent, but no Common Terns yet. Below, one of the 'Continental' race of Cormorant. 

Arriving just before 7am, I joined fellow ‘Lazee Birder’, Andy Dickity and his wife in the car park and then made our way to the shelter overlooking the very calm Solent. There was hardly a breath of wind and also hardly a cloud in the sky as we started checking out the sea. Good numbers of Sandwich Terns were within the Solent, either passing by or fishing, with the occasional few perching on some of the buoys offshore. Another ‘Lazee Birder’ was watching from Hill Head and later this morning, he messaged ahead that there were both Common Tern and a Little Gull offshore there.

Freshly arrived Wheatears on the beach and also on the field behind the shelter. 

My trip here got off to a great start with my first Shag of the year seen flying east low over the water. There were a lot of Cormorants out on the Solent, but I was happy with my identification. A few waders went through including up to four Oystercatchers and I even picked up a distant Curlew flying high west over the Solent. Andy picked up a passerine flitting about on the beach and it was a superb male Wheatear, one of four we saw this morning, although a fifth was seen after I had left by 10am. The Wheatears were really good value with one female bird perching on the shelter close to where we stood! Other passerine's seen included a few Linnets and Greenfinches.

This particular male Wheatear was sporting a ring on its right leg, but too distant to get a number.

More of the ‘Lazee Birders’ turned up and by 9am, there were at least 8 present including a real blast from the past, Nigel Crook, of which we had a good chat about the past and present. A very knowledgeable birder I might add, just like his brother Jason, who mostly does his birding around Farlington Marshes. Andy House was giving out generous amounts of Wine Gums to keep everyone happy as the sightings trickled by. I picked up two Hirundines to add to my year list that included a Swallow which Nigel Crook pointed out as it flew over the house and I found a Sand Martin flying in and also quickly headed off north.

A good gathering of Lazee Birders this morning at Gilkicker.

Divers, always good value on a seawatch are notoriously not easy to tell apart when flying at distance, but I was happy in identifying a pair of Black-throated Divers heading east (I did think Great Northern at first, but on reflection, I changed my mind) and a solitary Great Northern Diver also flying east. The Black-throated Diver was my first of the year and now I had four ‘year-ticks’ under my belt. A single female Common Scoter belted past east and three Eider (a drake and two females) distantly headed west. We also had a lone Gannet on the sea, but it was nearer the Isle of Wight than our side as it eventually took off and headed slow west. Possibly the oddest bird seen was a Great Spotted Woodpecker flying over our heads heading east!

This female Wheatear perched on the roof of the Shelter.

We even had a flypast from this beautiful bird over the Solent.

A very enjoyable 3hrs birding with great banter and good chat from the ‘Lazee’ gang and sure to be repeated soon. I normally sea-watch from Southsea, but I will probably see a lot more with more guys looking from Gillkicker in the future. Good times to come. News was coming in that a Cuckoo and a Sedge Warbler were on Fishlake Meadows this morning and Andy Fisher texted me to say he managed to see his first Wheatear and Barnacle Goose of the year on Farlington Marshes this morning.