Quality was to the fore today, with two of the only new arrivals being a Pallas's Warbler and a Serin - the former dropped in briefly at the Bunkhouse, whilst the latter was no more than a fly-by at the Obs; in purely local terms an even rarer visitor was a Corn Bunting - if we remember rightly it's only the second record this year - that also passed overhead at the Bill. The clear sky and freshening headwind looked to offer promise for a continuation of the recent decent spell for visible passage but, the rarities aside, almost nothing materlialised overhead; it was also quiet for new arrivals on the ground where most of what little made the list proved to be lingerers or winterers amongst which the Rosy Starling at Easton was the easily the highlight. Four Great Skuas were the pick of the seabirds off the Bill.
The Pallas's Warbler was only in view for a few seconds - it was very vocal and had likely just dropped in - and was lurking deep inside a privet hedge behind a chain-link fence. In the tangle of cover it was a struggle to resolve the bird with the naked eye or binoculars but this little montage of 'point, shoot and hope for the best' record shots show more than enough features for the ID to be clinched © Joe Stockwell:
An interesting little event a few days ago was the appearance of a late Yellow Wagtail at the Bill. When first heard flying over it gave every indication of being 'just' a Western Yellow Wagtail even if its appearance once it landed certainly set alarm bells ringing © Joe Stockwell (stills) and Martin Cade (video):
In dreadful conditions and through being extremely mobile it proved to be a really tricky bird to pin down but eventually decent sound recordings were obtained that confirmed it was indeed a Western Yellow Wagtail © Joe Stockwell:
