Today at the New workings:
A pair of Shelduck flew out early morning.
Late Afternoon, 8 Redshank, 5 LRP, a pair of Ruddy Duck and 3 Oystercatcher.
On the causway one Sedge Warbler showed and sang briefly and a Common Sandpiper was seen. Two groups of 4 Lesser Black Backed Gulls made short visits to bathe.
Under the current workings a few Pied Wagtails and Linnets were all that could be found.
One Yellow Wagtail flew over.
Sightings by Brian, Roger, Mike and Oliver.
Today at the New workings:
At least 2 Yellow wagtails in the sandy flat area under the cliffs. One male, one female which was quite oddly coloured. Very dark above with a distinct supercillium and almost white below with just a little smudgy yellow in blotches. 2 other birds were seen in flight.
Also in the are 2 LRP.
Just 1 male Wheatear remains from yesterdays peak evening count of 12.
At least 3 Redshank are still present and a Common Sandpiper was showing well on the doughnut island.
A pair of Raven flew over displaying.
A Jay was seen there this evening.
A Whinchat seen yesterday was possible still present but extremely elusive.
Also, early this morning, Brian Stretch found a Tree Pipit over the Old workings, a Lesser Whitethroat and 2 Sedge Warblers, all new for the year.
There has been no sign of the Grasshopper Warbler at the Old workings since Thursday, but a pair of Cuckoos were showing well this evening.
An Item of late news: (this is beginning to sound like a Two Ronnies sketch)
The first Hobby of the year flew through the New Workings at 7.15 this eve.
(Thanks to Brian for his 5th Grimley year tick of the day!)
Below are three wheatears photographed , yesterday, by Retreat Farm pool showing how much they can vary in colouration. The Female looks almost 'Greenland-ish' to me with an upright stance and quite densely coloured below. I can't say it looked any bigger than the 2 males though, so I guess it is probably just a dark nominate bird.
The 2 males were strikingly different from each other. One was quite well colored below the other almost white with just a hint of buff under the chin.
Oliver Wadsworth
Today at Grimley New Workings I met up with Mike Bourne who had found no less than 7 Wheatears. 2 on the east field, 2 on the recently disturbed ground in the working area and 3 around Retreat Farms main pool on the othe side of the lane. There have been some large numbers reported around the country in the lsat couple of days including a flock of 400 odd in North Wales!
Several Yellow Wagtails were seen, mostly in flight.
A pair of LRPs were chasing each other around the flat sandy ground at the
north end, a couple of Meadow pipits were heard and 2 Redshanks were in evidence.
A Male Cuckoo was heard singing briefly and seen in flight heading over the Camp Pub.
Oliver Wadsworth.