Weather-wise, a shocker of a day with the drizzle of dawn giving way to heavy rain and, as it turned progressively colder towards dusk, sleet. Birding-wise, things weren't so bleak with a decent little list accumulated during the first couple of hours of the morning when a
Manx Shearwater off the Bill was an unseasonable highlight. The sea was particularly busy, with the offshore feeding flock attracting c5000
auks (seemingly nearly all
Razorbills) and c400
Kittiwakes amongst others; 8
Common Scoter and 7
Red-throated Divers also passed through there, whilst 4
Purple Sandpipers, a
Grey Heron and a
Black Redstart were about on the land. The Ferrybridge tally included 450
Dark-bellied Brents, 120
Dunlin, 15
Bar-tailed Godwits, 3
Curlew and singles of
Black Brant and
Eider.
As usual, the 'proper' seabirds were way too far offshore to get much value on with a camera but the Turnstones and Purple Sands did zip by a little closer © Martin Cade: