6th October

With a ripping northwesterly battering the island today saw a largely reduced repeat of yesterday's happenings. Triple figure tallies of Pied Wagtails, Meadow Pipits, Goldfinches and Linnets were quickly accrued along East Cliffs but with many birds balking at leaving out to sea the Bill Common soon hosted a moving carpet of insectivores working their way through the autumnal glut of daddy longlegs'. The relative shelter of East Weare provided further bountiful pickings migrant-wise including more than 150 Blackcaps, amongst which 3 Yellow-browed Warblers, a Cetti's Warbler and a Firecrest were detected; lingering Yellow-browed Warblers were also still at the Obs and Thumb Lane and the Rosy Starling remained at Easton. A passing Storm Petrel off the Bill was a surprise reward from the sea but the season's first Red-throated Divers - one through off the Bill and another settled at Ferrybridge - provided the only other offshore action.

Red-throated Diver © Martin Cade and Little Egret © Roy Norris at Ferrybridge: