25th August

An absolutely lovely day to be out birding in unbroken sunshine and with it beginning to feel really warm once what little breeze there'd been early in the morning had dropped to nothing by the afternoon. Whilst there was precious little by way of what might be termed a fall of migrants there is now so much movement afoot that off-passage gatherings at the Bill of, for example, well into four figures of hirundines and 150 Yellow Wagtails, along with overhead totals there that included 45 Tree Pipits, were more than enough to convey the excitement of the season. Whilst their origins might be debated, the sight of singles of Osprey and White Stork overhead provided the icing on the cake of a good day for variety; singles of Green Sandpiper and Great Spotted Woodpecker at the Bill and Hobby over Ferrybridge were of further note. The only report from the sea was of a lone Balearic Shearwater through off the Bill.

Singles of Gem and Delicate - along with wandering Black Arches - provided the best of the interest amongst a relatively meagre selection of immigrant moths at the Obs.

Yellow Wagtails were a pretty constant presence both on the deck and overhead, with a few even remaining to roost in the maize strips in the Crown Estate Field © Pete Saunders:

The Osprey showed nicely as it headed south over Southwell © Pete Saunders:

The White Stork lingered overhead for quite a while this afternoon - here over Southwell © Pete Saunders:

We haven't followed very closely the story of this bird but if we've understood correctly the colour-ring combination identifies it as a rehabilitated bird that was originally from Poland; it was released in Norfolk earlier this year and is the same individual that was seen along the Fleet and further west in Dorset a fortnight ago (...but, per Devon birders, isn't the individual seen in east Devon in recent days).

Although they're often about at this time of year, it's rather rare for us to actually catch and get good close looks at White Wagtail, so this one jammed whilst we were messing about at trying to catch roosting Yellow Wagtails was a welcome in-hand highlight © Martin Cade: