Today's mainly overcast skies looked a little more promising from the migrant point of view and pretty thorough coverage of the Bill area eventually came up with a reasonable return. An early morning report from a visitor of a
Red-footed Falcon flying over Southwell would have constituted a nice highlight but it couldn't be found again so perhaps won't be adjudged to be completely clinched. A
Turtle Dove was the pick of the other new arrivals, with at least 4 new
Chiffchaffs, a new
Whitethroat and singles of
Redstart and
Black Redstart making up the rest of the tally; elsewhere a
Willow Warbler was fresh in at Blacknor. A few odds and ends on the sea included 50
Manx Shearwaters, 28
Common Scoter, a
Great Skua and a
Sandwich Tern through off the Bill.
Immigrant moth numbers and quality have slowly declined through the week, with just 9
Rusty-dot Pearl, 2
Silver Y and singles of
Diamond-back Moth,
Hummingbird Hawkmoth,
Orange Footman,
Delicate and
Small Mottled Willow caught overnight at the Obs.
A few random images from today's wanderings around the island © Emma Cockburn:
...and © Joe Stockwell:
