2nd June

The fierce south-westerly that set in overnight blew on throughout the morning before slowly abating as skies cleared during the afternoon. Chesil Cove was always going to be the best bet for the seawatchers and duly returned the lion's share of the sightings, with 7 Pomarine Skuas, 2 Storm Petrels, a Red-breasted Merganser and an Arctic Skua through or lingering during the morning; the Bill came up with another four-figure Manx Shearwater total, but little else bar 2 Arctic Skuas and 1-2 Storm Petrels. The only other reports were from Ferrybridge, where 27 Dunlin, 21 Sanderling and a Bar-tailed Godwit were grounded and 3 Arctic Skuas passed over.

And a final recording from Nick Hopper's most recent batch of nocturnal curiosities. We have to admit that we were so sceptical that a Moorhen would be overflying the Bill at 10 past 1 in the morning on 27th May that we asked Nick if he was sure that there couldn't be another explanation, only to discover that he was so doubtful himself that he'd taken the trouble to do a detailed analysis of the sonogram and to match it to known recordings, and even then had asked the redoubtable Magnus Robb for further confirmation. So, what was this Moorhen up to over the Bill in late May...?