14th August

A day that started with not a breath of wind and a glassy sea was not the usual start to a good migrant day, however, by around 9am the cloud had rolled in and some visible passage was noted. 1 Grey Heron and 4 Tree Pipits began the day followed by a modest fall of Willow Warblers with the total reaching 45, 3 Pied Flycatchers also made an appearance with 3 fly-over Yellow Wagtails, 4 Sedge Warblers and 2 Swifts. A lone Siskin, a Lesser Whitethroat and a Spotted Flycatcher made up the single records of the day. The top fields were returning to their autumnal productivity with 11 Wheatears and 6 Whinchats. The sea was also putting on a fair show species wise, if not in numbers with: 2 Dunlin, 1 Ringed Plover, 1 Turnstone, 1 Manx Shearwater, 1 Balearic Shearwater, 5 Common Scoter, 1 Yellow-legged Gull, and 1 Arctic Skua. 

Ferrybridge saw a notable increase in waders with: 2 Common Sandpipers, 1 Curlew, 1 Knot, 41 Dunlin, 52 Ringed Plover, 5 Turnstones, 36 Oystercatchers, 1 Grey Heron, 1 Yellow-legged Gull and 2 Common Terns.

The moth traps had a much more successful night with the first Convolvulus Hawkmoths of the year (1 at the Obs and 2 at the Grove) of particular note; 12 Silver Y, 11 Dark Sword Grass, 3 Diamond-back Moths, 1 Rush Veneer and 1 Vagrant Piercer Cydia amplana made up the rest of the night's tally at the Obs.

After a few days hiatus Pied Flycatchers returned to the fore today, with at least 5 scattered around the south of the island; this one was at Southwell © Debby Saunders:

Wader numbers were also on the up, with Common Sandpiper and Knot featuring at Ferrybridge © Pete Saunders

On the moth front Convolvulus Hawkmoth and Vagrant Piercer were two August staples that put in appearances for the first time this year © Martin Cade:

After the cloud and fog passed, the day was actually quite warm and it coaxed this second generation Adonis Blue out of hiding on West Cliffs  © Matt Ames: