20th August

The sea stole the show again today: routine passage never got beyond the pedestrian but, rarity-wise, the early risers scored with a Great Shearwater through off the Bill whilst 2 or 3 more Long-tailed Skuas passed Chesil Cove and the Bill later in the morning. It was genuinely hard work to get any sort of numbers from the two main watchpoints, with a full six hours through the morning at the Bill returning just 13 Manx Shearwaters, 8 Balearic Shearwaters and lower still totals of Common Scoter, Kittiwake, Sandwich Tern and Arctic Skua; Chesil Cove was hardly any more rewarding, with 15 Sanderling and 5 Arctic Terns about as good as it got. Legwork on the land came up with 31 Wheatears, 15 Willow Warblers, 4 Whinchats, 2 Spotted Flycatchers and singles of Tree Pipit and Pied Flycatcher at the Bill, with a Gadwall the best on offer at Ferrybridge.