15th August

The delusional amongst us awoke under the sad misapprehension that the dreary skies of a mid-August dawn promised a worthwhile flourish of migrant activity - perhaps this might have been the case a couple of decades ago but times have moved on. What few rewards there were on the land at the Bill included just into double figure totals of Wheatear and Willow Warbler but little else by way of quality beyond a lone Pied Flycatcher; 3 of the dispersed locally-bred Tree Sparrows were also dotted about there. With the breeze freshening from the west the sea got plenty of looks but 40 Mediterranean Gulls, 13 Common Scoter, 6 Balearic Shearwaters, 3 Manx Shearwaters, 2 Arctic Skuas and a Whimbrel accounted for the best of things off the Bill. The only other reports came from Ferrybridge where a few Yellow-legged Gulls and 2 late Little Terns were of note.

Another single Convolvulus Hawkmoth was the pick of a thin scatter of immigrants in the Obs moth-traps.

With any luck some of the locally-bred Tree Sparrows will linger on through the autumn and winter; just at the moment they've dispersed quite widely around the Bill, with as reliable a spot as any being amongst the House Sparrows that frequent the roadside bramble bushes between the Obs and Lloyd's Cottage © James Phillips: