17th July

An important reminder for Obs members that our AGM takes place at 7pm tomorrow, Saturday 18th July 2015; full details are available on the Notices page.
 
 
In fresher, breezier conditions there was still a fair bit about as autumn passage gathered ground. Passerines were still the poor relation although a welcome first Willow Warbler of the season did show up at the Obs and there were still signs of a few Swallows departing at the Bill. Waders continued to fare better, with 26 Dunlin, 3 Common Sandpipers and singles of Whimbrel, Greenshank and Redshank - along with a slightly unseasonable Common Gull - at Ferrybridge and another Common Sandpiper at the Bill. The sea produced the rest of the day's interest, with 66 Common Scoter, 23 Manx Shearwaters, 2 Mediterranean Gulls, 2 Arctic Skuas and singles of Balearic Shearwater and Yellow-legged Gull through off the Bill.
 
On the moth front it was a case of wondering where all of yesterday's numbers went - in the fresher conditions the traps were far quieter everywhere; immigrant interest was largely restricted to the year's first Scarce Bordered Straw at the Obs. As a postscript to yesterday's apparent mass arrival of Garden Grass-veneers Chrysoteuchia culmella, Debby Saunders reports that she caught c700 at Sweethill - in her words, "I've never had that number of moths of any kind before".
 
 

 
Common Sandpipers, Starry Pearl Cynaeda dentalis and Puss Moth - Ferrybridge, Southwell and Portland Bill, 17th July 2015 © Pete Saunders (Common Sands), Debby Saunders (Starry Pearl) and Ken Dolbear (Puss Moth)