1st September

A disappointing start to the new month with the promise of an overcast dawn coming to nothing - or at least nothing by way of quality or any great improvement in quantity. A standard assortment at the Bill included double figure totals of Yellow Wagtail (40), Wheatear, Robin and Willow Warbler (20 each) and Tree Pipit (10), but amongst the list-padders the only faint interest came in the form of 5 Redstarts and a lone Pied Flycatcher. It remained too overcast throughout the day for overhead passage to get going to any extent, although a couple of tardy Swifts were of note over the north of the island. A single passing Balearic Shearwater was the only reward from seawatching at the Bill.


Red-legged Shieldbugs Pentatoma rufipes - Wakeham, 31st August 2014 © Ken Dolbear
 
...this mating pair were discovered in precisely the same spot as the island's only other record of a single in August 2009.