A day of tranquillity with clear blue skies, not a breathe of wind and none of those pesky migrants to bother us. That's perhaps a little harsh for a day that produced four
Yellow-
browed Warblers but it was otherwise another day of scraping the barrel as far as visible migration went. Despite the appearance that all movement (however minimal) had ended by 10am, the day produced a couple of oddities later on including a pair of fly-by
Velvet Scoters, a very tardy
Swallow, and the first
Bullfinch at the southern end of the island for the autumn. Finches were the only common migrants showing in any numbers with 23
Bramblings, 73
Chaffinches, 7
Redpolls and 24
Siskins.
At the Northern end of the island winter was rearing its ugly head with the beginnings of the wintering harbour birds with three
Black-
necked Grebes at Sandsfoot. Ferrybridge also had a distinctly wintery feel with 245
Brent Geese, 4
Goosanders and a
Grey Plover.
At least one of the pair of Yellow-browed Warblers at the Reap Lane barns was obliging enough for a photo © Matt Ames:
The four Goosanders at Ferrybridge were also accompanied by 9 Red-breasted Mergansers © Pete Saunders:
