St. Mary's 14/10/21

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The Indian summer continues with another day of unbroken sunshine and calm conditions.

A wader on the beach at Porthloo was identified by a discerning birder as Spotted Sandpiper rather than Common. The bird attracted a good audience in the morning, though flew out of sight shortly after my visit.

Not easy to separate these species in non-breeding plumage though key features looked good for Spotted Sandpiper, with a relatively short tail projection compared to Common and unbarred tertial fringes.

Early afternoon I watched a showy Red-breasted Flycatcher in pine trees on the Garrison. The bird was very active and sometimes perched quite close.

Elsewhere on the Garrison a Little Bunting reported near the football pitch failed to show again though no problem seeing Stonechat along the hedgerow. 

Spotted Sandpiper

Spotted Sandpiper 

Porthloo beach

Red-breasted Flycatcher 

Red-breasted Flycatcher

Stonechat




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