5th November

It wasn't so long ago that we'd have had June and November firmly inked in as the months to expect the unexpected but both have lost their lustre a little in recent years, with today struggling to chip in with anything expected let alone something more exciting. The routine Chaffinches and Goldfinches aside, finches were in conspicuously short supply with a lone Hawfinch over Blacknor and just 4 each of Brambling and Redpoll over the Bill the best on offer. A new Firecrest turned up at the Obs but 2 Black Redstarts and a single Purple Sandpiper were the only other birds of note at the Bill; elsewhere, another Black Redstart at Blacknor, 2 Pale-bellied Brent Geese, 2 Bar-tailed Godwits and a Grey Plover at Ferrybridge and a single Great Northern Diver in Portland Harbour made up the day's tally.