CRANES - St.Cath's

We concentrated on a vis mig session (me and the visiting bro), 7am - 1:30pm, and it was an odd mix really; definitely quality over quantity. An early flyby cattle egret would normally be an oddity, but perhaps not so much these days given their numbers in and around UK of late - but still a quality bird and fairly unexpected.
But the highlight came when five common cranes were picked up west of Blackgang chine. We tracked them over Chale Bay as they continued along the coastline towards us. They suddenly turned inland and were lost to view for a time. Such distant views would have been quite something; but moments later they came back into view over Gore cliff and proceeded to circle right over St. Cath's in front of us: an astonishing spectacle. We watched them gradually gain height like raptors - and it felt like they were getting ready to leave. Sure enough when they were ready they departed out to sea and due south to cross the English Channel. (Postscript: over a few days they were seen migrating southwards across Britain from as far away as Aberdeenshire. About an hour before our sighting they were seen on the other side of the Solent at Lymington).


 

 

 

A cattle egret went by west - pic by Graham Sparshott

 

Jays on the move west