20th May

On the evidence of today the quest for the late spring rarity is going to be a bit of slog - or looking more positively, it certainly isn't going to be overlooked amongst a wealth of other migrants. The pick of what little did turn today were 2 Nightjars that - in a re-enactment of the Caprimulgus Petrel evenings of bygone times - lingered distantly off Chesil during the last hour of daylight. Five each of Wheatear and Chiffchaff and a lone Willow Warbler were the only new migrants on the ground at the Bill where a Grey Heron was an unexpected arrival in off the sea and a light trickle of Swifts and hirundines were still passing through; elsewhere, singles of Yellow Wagtail and Whinchat were at High Angle Battery. The only sea reports were of 64 Common Scoter, 7 Sandwich Terns, 5 commic terns and singles of Black-throated Diver and Arctic Skua through off the Bill.