A cold north wind produced a few interesting seabirds, with single Goldeneye Red-throated Diver and Kittiwake, together with 25 Sandwich Terns past. Also of interest were 2 Whinchats along the sea wall to Thornham, and a single Wheatear. Our Swallows arrived back this morning, and other birds of note included a Black-tailed Godwit on the NWT pools, a Greenshank at Thornham Harbour, a female Black Redstart in the dunes, 2 Cetti's Warblers, 2 Chiffchaffs, 2 Blackcaps, 2 Lesser Whitethroats, 2 Grasshopper Warblers and 6+ Sedge Warblers.
At Walsey Hills c.60 Sand Martins, 30 Swallows and 3 House Martins were feeding over Snipe's Marsh and behind North Foreland Wood for much of the day. A Wryneck was reported in the bushes near the NWT visitor center and in the scrub at Walsey were 4 Chiffchaffs, 3 Willow Warblers, 5 Blackcaps, 1 Cetti's Warbler and 2 Sedge Warbler. 8 Whimbrel were seen passing west during the day, with some alighting on the marsh near the car park with a single Ruff.
Holme Bird Observatory (Header)
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CORONAVIRUS UPDATE – NOA HIDES RE-OPENING FROM MONDAY 14TH SEPTEMBER 2020
The NOA is opening hides on all reserves to members again from 14th September 2020. There are still some restrictions and please be aware that these are: Face coverings will be required in all NOA hides until further notice, unless you are exempt for wearing them. Only 2 people from different households may use any hide at one time. A single household of more than two people is permitted, provided no-one else is using it. We are still not able to admit visitors inside the Observatory centre at present. We regret the inconvenience to all our members and visitors caused by the loss of use of these facilities during the first five months of the COVID-19 outbreak. Please be considerate of the restrictions we have put in place, allowing us to restore access as safely as possible. Thank you for your understanding.
