A similar day to yesterday saw the lovely birding conditions of the morning gradually give way to an afternoon spoilt by some hefty showers tracking south from the mainland. Both the
Wryneck at the Obs Quarry and the
Hoopoe at Southwell were still about but the good spread of grounded and overflying
Meadow Pipits and passing
hirundines - the former numbered well into four figures at the Bill alone whilst the latter (amongst which all three species were well represented) included several strong pulses of hundreds at a time either side of midday - didn't give an altogether representative view of migration in general, since it remained decidedly quieter that might be hoped.
Wheatears,
Blackcaps and
Chiffchaffs were quite well spread everywhere even if not especially numerous, but quality didn't get beyond the level of single
Hobbys over the Bill and Blacknor, single
Ring Ouzels at the Bill and Bumpers Lane and 2
Little Stints at Ferrybridge.
With the conditions looking pretty unappealing for immigrant moths we've cut right back to running just two traps at the Obs and none at all at the Grove for the last week or so. The overnight immigrant tally at the Obs consisted of just 2 each of
Rusty-dot Pearl and
Rush Veneer, and singles of
Pearly Underwing and
Silver Y.
What is it with Wrynecks and the Obs Quarry? - surely there's no other single spot in Britain that's more of a magnet for long-staying, showy Wrynecks than this outwardly undistinguished location
© Peter Moore petermooreblog: 
More routine fare today included plenty of Wheatears
© Peter Moore petermooreblog: 
...and a handful of Whinchats
© Pete Saunders: 
