16th August

It would be safe to say that this morning we did not wake with our usual vim and vigour, the lashing rain and howling wind could be heard from bed and it was most definitely not the day for an early start. The inclement weather made sea watching the only viable option for most of the morning, the highlight being two Storm Petrels lingering with the Gulls. In addition to this there were 16 Common Scoters, 1 Balearic Shearwater, 7 Manx Shearwaters, 1 Great Skua, 3 Mediterranean Gulls, 2 Sandwich Terns and 1 Common Tern. Once the rain had eventually alleviated, play resumed as usual and some migrants were tracked down. The largest count of Wheatears this autumn was bolstered by 26 birds on the East cliffs bringing the total to 39, a single Tree Pipit, Whinchat and Lesser Whitethroat added to the days species totals and 10 Willow Warblers rounded it off in the Obs area. A quick visit to Suckthumb Quarry was rewarded with 2 Garden Warblers, 5 Willow Warblers and a Sand Martin.

Ferrybridge suffered also in the dawn downpour with just 2 Little Terns, 4 Sandwich Terns, 1 Common Tern and 1 Redshank.

There's a distinctly autumnal feel in the top fields at present with large mixed flocks of Finches gathering amongst the seed-ridden crops © Erin Taylor:


The numbers of Sand Martins have been dramatically decreasing over the past couple of the weeks as they leave our shores en mass © Erin Taylor: