A glorious autumnal day saw the day dawn crisp and clear. The early morning flurry of Chaffinches and Bramblings fizzled out rather rapidly, leaving the morning to be rescued by the arrival at the Bill of a Cattle Egret - it was always mobile but quite often settled amongst livestock before eventually heading away north. A smattering of additional late autumn staples overhead included single figures of Lapwing, Woodlark, Bullfinch, Redpoll and Reed Bunting, along with a rather measly 1000 Wood Pigeons and 500 Starlings. It was a little busier than in recent days on the ground, with the 2 Yellow-browed Warblers at Southwell being joined by the first Siberian Chiffchaff of the autumn; a handful more Blackcaps, Chiffchaffs and Goldcrests were evident, with the mist-nets also revealing an otherwise under the radar arrival of new Blue and Great Tits. A Grey Phalarope dropped in briefly at Ferrybridge, whilst winter fare included the odd Black Redstart here and there and singles of Great Northern Diver and Shelduck in Portland Harbour.
Although of almost no consequence in most of Southern England, Cattle Egret's still a surprisingly high value bird at Portland - this was only the sixth record for the island © Pete Saunders (top) and Martin Cade (bottom):
