Monday was the first dry day for some time and warm enough for five species of hoverfly on warm, sheltered Ivy plus a few Common Darters, Buff-tailed Bees, Red Admirals and Vespula spp.
The flurry of south coast Leach's Petrels after Storm Ciaran had finished before I could get out although one was still present at Selesy Bill early today. Typically, offshore at Hill Head today was birdless.
The water on the reserve was the highest I've seen with both North and South scrapes combined into one sheet of water and so too high for pretty much any birds; last week's Snipe count of 75+ was down to zero!
The Frying Pan and area to the south held most of the birds including plenty of the five common gull species and three Glossy Ibises, the first time I've seen them for a while.
Locally, no change with just half a dozen Shovelers going round in circles; and this was one of two patches of Armilleria (probably melea group, commonly known as Honey Fungus).
Last week a quick trip to the Oysterbeds produced the Long-tailed Duck fairly quickly although it disappeared frequently by diving before heading out into the north east corner of the harbour. Five Red-breasted Mergansers were the only other waterfowl and two Ravens were best-of-the-rest on the way back to the car.
