20th August

The steady improvement in migrant variety and numbers continued, with today coming up with a fullish tally of late August fare even if not in quantities that might have been described as a fall. Totals from the Bill area included 60 Wheatears, 40 Willow Warblers, 24 Cormorants, 19 Yellow Wagtails and 16 Sedge Warblers, with 4 Common Sandpipers, 4 Redstarts, 2 Lesser Whitethroats and a Grasshopper Warbler of particular note amongst the lesser totals. The Ferrybridge miscellany included 3 Common Sandpipers, 2 Little Ringed Plover and 2 southbound Sparrowhawks. What breeze there was remained firmly from an offshore direction, so 5 Balearic Shearwaters were the only worthwhile sea sightings at the Bill.


Yellow Wagtail - Southwell, 20th August © Pete Saunders