May has been quieter than expected on the migration front, with mostly clear skies the birds have been flying straight over us on their northward journey.
The standouts were two male Garganey which stayed at St Ouen’s Pond from the start of the month until the 10th, a Purple Heron flew over the pond on the 11th and a Grey-headed Yellow Wagtail was seen at the Scrape on the 12th.
On the east of the Island a still flooded La Sente held a beautiful Black-tailed Godwit for almost two weeks, a Wood Sandpiper on the 9th and a good number of Greenshanks. It still amazes us how a seasonal flooded field has become our premier wetland.
The best record of May was of three Sabine’s Gulls seen feeding two miles north-west of Grosnez from the Channel Ferry, these small Arctic Gulls are very rare migrants in our waters and this sighting constituted only the fifteenth record!
