22nd October

Quiet conditions made for very enjoyable birding even if the migrant interest didn't get to the level that might have been hoped. Thrushes were well spread rather than moving in quantity - Redwing only just about managed a three figure for the island as a whole - and it was Goldcrest that topped the day's grounded totals, with 50 at the Bill and a pretty decent spread throughout the better cover further up island; although there was plenty of other seasonable fare on offer it was probably the 'under the radar' arrivals such as Wrens and Robins - both seemed to really numerous everywhere - that made up the bulk of the rest of the numbers on the ground. Overhead passage was fitful at best, with a few flocks of new Wood Pigeons but, for example, precious little in the way of finch movement. Minor oddities consisted of singles of Quail and Bearded Tit at the Bill and Yellow-browed Warbler at Wakeham, with a scatter of 4 Black Redstarts, 2 Firecrests and singles of Merlin, Short-eared Owl and Ring Ouzel making up the meagre tally of less frequent migrants.

Always a freaky thing to spot away from a reedbed, Bearded Tits are actually an almost to be expected arrival in fair weather in mid-October, with the 54 records since the first in 1965 involving a total of at least 251 individuals. Today's solitary male trapped in the Crown Estate Field was presumably the individual first seen yesterday in the Pulpit bushes © Martin Cade: