7th May

The promise of the mainly southerly air flow of a few days ago looks to be fizzling out as Atlantic-driven conditions set in. Today's cool, blustery westerlies were really not what we'd order up for early May and the quality of the day's birding certainly reflected that fact. Seven more Pomarine Skuas through off the Bill were welcome but not too unexpected, but otherwise seawatching there came up with just 5 Great Skuas, 3 Great Northern Divers and singles of Red-throated Diver and Little Tern. Although Swallows, together with a handful of Swifts, a couple of Yellow Wagtails and a single Hobby, were again passing through in quantity (several hundred per hour at times), the grounded migrant situation remained pretty grim: new arrivals at the Bill included 4 Spotted Flycatchers and singles of Redstart, Lesser Whitethroat and Pied Flycatcher, but nothing in the way of numbers of any of the more routine fare.