Well, it didn't take much to get autumn going again, with a few hours of southeasterly and a dollop more overnight rain dropping first a Pallas's Warbler at the Obs and later another Pallas's Warbler and 2 Yellow-browed Warblers at Avalanche Road; a fly-by Great White Egret at the Bill - still a good bird here - was also worth a mention. Oh to have had a bit more of these conditions in recent weeks! All in all there was a decent selection of birds to show from what was a pretty negligible amount of fieldwork today, with the aforementioned scarcities arriving in tandem with a selection of commoner migrants that included 44 Redwings, 25 Song Thrushes, 6 Chiffchaffs, 5 Black Redstarts, 4 Bramblings, 4 Siskins, 3 Fieldfares, 3 Goldcrests, a Lapwing and a Blackcap at the Bill, a Firecrest at Avalanche Road and the first Black-necked Grebe of the winter at Portland Harbour; the Long-tailed Duck was also still at Ferrybridge. The sea wasn't to be outdone, with 293 Kittiwakes, 39 Common Scoter, 7 Pintail, 5 Red-throated Divers, 4 Brent Geese, 3 Great Northern Divers and singles of Black-throated Diver, Wigeon and Arctic Skua through off the Bill.
If we had even a modicum of photographic skill - and it hadn't been semi-dark for most of the day - you might have been treated to something better on the Pallas's Warblers but these'll have to do; this is the bird at the Obs...
...and this is the one at Avalanche Road © Martin Cade:
Barn Owls have been very showy at dawn and dusk in recent weeks - this one was at Sweethill this evening © Pete Saunders:
