More snow's a-coming !!
Slithered and bumped my way down to Prawle today (well the WeBS count had to be done, didn't it!). Started with a seawatch though, which was fairly productive. Single Great Northern and Black-throated Divers (seemed to be heading towards the Kingsbridge Estuary), four Red-throated Divers east, Balearic Shearwater east, (and presumed to be the same bird later flying back west), 4 Fulmars, 573 Gannets (most east), 13 Common Scoters, two Red-breasted Mergansers, (pair), drake Teal, 17 Kittiwakes and 247 Auks. (Most of these were close enough to identify, and all but 6 were Guillemots). WeBS count was quite good for Prawle, returning totals of 2 Wigeon, 77 Oystercatcher, 3 Curlew, 6 Redshank, (the highest count here since 2004), 3 Knot, 2 Sanderling, Grey Plover, 10 Purple Sandpiper and 15 Turnstone.
A lot of birds were finding plenty of food in the snow- and frost-free lower fields, including 470+ Golden Plover, 45 Lapwing, 200+ Skylark, 70 Song Thrush, 12 Redwing, and single Mistle Thrush and Fieldfare.
Other counts today included 5 Med Gulls, 16 Common Gulls (a good site count), 26 Snipe, (including a flock of 10 east during the seawatch), 2 Woodcock, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Black Redstart (wintering female on the Point), and a single Goldcrest.
