6
within having increased steadily since then on
a parallel course with the age of its regular
users!
The chief cover for migrant birds in the
Observatory area is a small garden behind the
hut and an Elm/Blackthorn thicket alongside the
nearby seawall. This year winds were
un-favourable for migration during much of the
autumn, blowing predominantly from the west or
south-west and few 'falls' of note were
reported. However, both Wheatears and
Whinchats were plentiful during August and
September and Goldcrests in October, and there
was a scattering of Pied Flycatchers, Red-
starts, Firecrests and Ring Ouzels. A
Grasshopper Warbler in September, Barred
Warbler in October and Woodlark in November
were the rarest passerines recorded. When
passerines fail us we can always turn to sea
watching, although at Bradwell this often
degenerates into a stone throwing contest at
plastic bottles laying on the beach! When the
winds turn onshore, things do liven up a little
and the autumn of 1990 had its moments, birds
of note being a Leach's Petrel, Manx Shear-
water, both Whooper and Bewick's Swans, a
Mediterranean Gull, Pomarine Skua, Long-Tailed
Skua, and up to S Little Auks and an impressive
176 Little Gulls. Waders, of course, are the
area's speciality and in mid-autumn the high
tide roosts on the shell—ridges can be crowded
with up to 15,000 birds of a dozen different
species. The scarcer species were unusually
well represented this year, with up to 60
Greenshank, 50 Whimbrel, 20 Curlew Sandpipers
and a sprinkling of Avocets. It is raptors