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I was working on the Isle of Wight again today and because I had least an hour spare before my next client meeting, I took a stroll around St. Catherine’s Point for a sea watch. It was a sunny day with occasional cloud cover coming in from the north, but very pleasant in the warm sunshine. A nice breeze was blowing so I was hoping for some movement offshore. Unlike Selsey Bill and some other coastal watch points, St. Catherine’s is heavily under watched, but those few who do sea watch here get some good results.
The drive from Newport to Niton, across the countryside, sometimes produces the odd good sighting and this time, I saw my first Hobby of the month, flying adjacent to the roadside just outside Niton Village.
From 1pm to 2.30pm, I stood by the gate overlooking the lighthouse and the sea and watched from there. Around me, at least six Common Whitethroats were seen, with many displaying males around the hedgerows and slope. Two male Yellowhammers were also holding territory and seen often singing from perches or flying overhead.
The sea looked relatively choppy, especially when it clouded over and therefore produced several sightings of small flocks of Gannets flying by. I had a total of 21 birds, mostly adults flying either east or west over the sea. A single Fulmar was seen flying low over the waves, in a westerly direction also. I was hoping for a Manx Shearwater or possibly a Petrel but my luck didn’t go that far. A Brent Goose was a total surprise, a single bird flying high heading east. Was it heading for the Arctic or heading to our south coast? Some close sightings of both Razorbill and Guillemot all heading west near the shoreline was a bonus also.
Overhead, the familiar ‘mewing’ call of Common Buzzards was heard and sure enough, two birds were circling overhead and showing very well in the bright afternoon sunshine. I was nearly about to leave when I heard the distinctive call of a Yellow Wagtail and I was overjoyed when I caught sight of the bird flying in off the sea and then heading west over the lighthouse and along the shore. This was a year tick for me and hopefully not the last this year either. I left it there as I had to head to St. Helens for my next client meeting, but at least I got two more month ticks under my belt.
Before my last appointment at 6pm, I had a quick bite to eat by the seafront at Seaview and checked the beach for anything interesting. The tide was out and therefore I was hoping for a wader or two. Just an Oystercatcher represented the wader family, on a very bare beach. There were a couple of Little Egrets fishing the shallows and a pair of Common Terns bathed in the water also until flying off west along the shoreline. But, apart from several Herring and Black-headed Gulls and a small flock of Jackdaws, nothing of note.
The Lighthouse at St. Catherines’s Point.
Seaview seafront, Seaview, Isle of Wight.
Bathing Common Terns on Seaview Beach this afternoon.
