Over the past week, some fine (but cold) weather gave many birdwatchers the chance to get out and about, resulting in a large number of reports being sent in to Manx BirdLife and some nice observations.

Highlights of the week include an increase in the number of Whooper Swans on the Island – with the large flock in the Ballaugh Cronk/Jurby area now reaching 28 birds, a Long-tailed Duck was seen off the Point of Ayre, as were some Red-throated and Great Northern Divers. 30 Purple Sandpipers were seen on the Calf of Man – with no warden on the island during the winter, sightings like this tend to be missed. Bob Taylor also saw a Puffin off the Calf. Another Black Redstart turned up at the mouth of Ramsey Harbour and was ringed by Sean Gray; this spot is certainly favoured by Black Redstarts, but there must be a good chance of others being elsewhere on the Isle of Man. The Siberian Chiffchaff in the Bride Hills was a great find!

On the negative side, 6 dead birds – either Shags or Cormorants – were found on the east side of the Island, just south of Point of Ayre. One is definitely a Shag as it was ringed on the Calf of Man as a pullus in May 2009. See Kevin Scott’s Manx Bird Ringing blog for more details. Eve also reported a Shag at Fleshwick that looked ill and didn’t fly off – as a fit wild bird might be expected to – could this bird be ill or possibly malnourished? Photos of the two Shags are included below.

For full details of last week’s sightings, please click here. They can also be seen by clicking on ‘RECENT REPORTS’ at the top of the screen, go down to ‘January’, then clicking on ‘15th’. Thank you to everyone who has sent in their observations and photographs. Please continue to send in your observations and photographs using this form.

So far this year 86 different species have been reported to Manx BirdLife, see here for details. If you see any species that has not yet been reported this year, please could you do so using the usual form.