Isle of Wight Birds- Part 1

Jayne and I have been in the Isle of Wight for a week today, so I thought it was about time I wrote a post about birdlife here.

The first birds we saw this week, were, of course, gulls, with Black-headed, Mediterranean and Herring Gull all seen on the ferry trip over to the island. Great Black-backed was added when we arrived in Ventnor (1 adult and 1 juvenile), a Common Gull was seen in Bembridge and a single Lesser Black-backed Gull was on the seafront at Sandown today.

Mediterranean Gull (Ryde Esplanade)

Tern species seen so far are Sandwich (5 in Bembridge harbour - year tick), and Common Tern.

The crow family has also been well represented so far with Carrion Crow, Jackdaw, Rook, Magpie and Jay all seen in and around Ventnor, while 2 Ravens were also seen flying over Afton Down.

Waders are a bit thin on the ground, but we have seen Oystercatcher, Redshank and a single Greenshank (at Bembridge on Thursday- year tick).

As far as birds of prey are concerned, we've had a couple of sightings of Peregrine Falcon (1 mobbing a Raven at Afton Down, and 1 over Osborne House). We've also had daily sightings of Common Buzzard, and a couple of Kestrel sightings (1 over the cliffs in Ventnor, and 1, which, judging by the state of the plumage, is a juvenile, perched on the cliff side below Afton Down yesterday morning).

Kestrel

Passerines seen include Stonechat (2 on Afton Down), Meadow Pipit (several birds, including one carrying food on Afton Down), Skylark ( 1 singing on Afton Down), Linnets (group of c.10 on Afton Down), House Sparrow, Starling, Yellowhammer, Swift (10 flying over Afton Down on 5th, and a large flock of c.30 over Sandown today), Swallow, Goldfinch, Wren, Robin ( seen daily, including juveniles in Shanklin Chine and Osborn House), Blackbird, Green Woodpecker (heard daily from bed (!) and seen around Ventnor Park), Great-spotted Woodpecker (heard in Osborne House gardens/woods), Woodpigeon, Collared Dove, Blue, Great and Long-tailed Tits.

Water birds seen are: Mute Swan (in Ryde), Mallard, Little Egret (1 in Ryde) and Coot.

This isn't bad considering we haven't been "bird watching" yet, so hopefully we can add a few more species next week.

Year List update:
163: Greenshank
164: Sandwich Tern