24 Apr 18

Sweethill, Top Fields, The Slopes, The Bill, Hut Fields, Culverwell and back to Sweethill

Well it started off nice at 8:30am but 3 hours on and the fog horn started up as the sea fog moved in over the island.

Main highlights on my long walk were 30+ Manx Shearwater at The Bill, 1 Whimbrel in the grounds of Qinetiq, 150+ Guillemot on the water below the west cliff, 50+ Swallow heading up the slopes, 1 Yellow Wagtail over Sweethill, 3 Stonechat (2m,1f) and a pair of Whinchat above the Crown Estate Fields, 15+ Wheatear around the Bill, 2 Common Whitethroat and a Lesser Whitethroat in the Top Field hedges.

Other bits and bobs were masses of Larval tents on the Wild Cherry hedges containing hundreds of caterpillars of the Brown-tail Moth. And lots of Bluebells out in flower.

Here are a few images from this morning.

This Wild Cherry is well in flower..........

.......and in leaf, which hasn't gone unnoticed by these.......

.......Brown-tail moth larvae. Not a caterpillar you would want to touch as the hairs can cause skin reactions. More on this caterpillar Here. Below is what the moth looks like......

A Brown-tail Moth.This one was in my Wakeham garden on 3 Jul 17

One of male Pheasants strutting around the Top Fields.

To the west of the slopes there were up to 150+ Guillemot on the sea...........

..........and a few on the cliff ledges.

In the grounds of Qinetiq the grounds provide plenty of insects for Wheatears and it seems...........

........Whimbrel.

I certainly wasn't expecting to see this wader at The Bill. From what I can gather most of them carry on flying overhead.

A real treat to see a Whimbrel up close.

There were Wheatears everywhere, on both sides of The Bill.

Nothing unusual a Rock Pipit, however.........

......it has a leg ring that has split.

Here we have some Bluebells.........

.........and some Pinkbells. I can only surmise that the soil below them is a bit acidic.

Well its a Swallow and a very poor attempt of photographing one in flight.......

........not helped much by the poor light as the Fog moved in.

Birds Recorded: Fulmar, 30+ Manx Shearwater, 10+ Gannet, Shag, Cormorant, Kestrel, Pheasant, 2 Oystercatcher, 1 Whimbrel, Black-headed Gull, Herring Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, 150+ Guillemot, Wood Pigeon, Skylark, 50+ Swallow, Meadow Pipit, Rock Pipit, Pied Wagtail, 1 Yellow Wagtail, Dunnock, 3 Stonechat, 2 Whinchat, 15+ Wheatear, Blackbird, 2 Common Whitethroat, 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 5 Chiffchaff, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Wren, Magpie, Rook, Carrion Crow, Jackdaw, 1 Raven, 2 Starling, House Sparrow, Chaffinch, Linnet and Goldfinch.