29th August

Although numbers were far from anything to shout about today's migrant assortment had a more enticing mid-autumn feel to it, with some quality coming in the form of 2 Ortolan Buntings sound-recorded overhead during the hours of darkness and a more-or-less on cue Wryneck mist-netted at the Obs during the morning. Migrant totals at the Bill included 40 Yellow Wagtails, 13 Tree Pipits, 4 Pied Flycatchers, 3 Whinchats and singles of Hobby, Redstart and Reed Warbler, with 2 passing Balearic Shearwaters providing a modicum on interest on the sea there.

Nick Hopper made a well-timed return to the Obs last night for another session of nocturnal recording; although there was nowhere near the quantity of the previous two sessions 2 Ortolan Buntings - one at 01.14 and the other at 04.12 - provided some welcome quality. Also noteworthy was an early Water Rail but, in stark contrast to the previous sessions, the only waders were singles of Greenshank and Common Sandpiper. Other callers were: Common Tern 1, Pied Flycatcher 1, Robin 2, Yellow Wagtail 4, Tree Pipit 71 calls and a Chiffchaff - the latter a rare nocturnal caller.

Neither Ortolan was particularly close (the sound's been amplified 20x here!) so the recordings are quite hissy but they're more than adequate for documentation:

With a spell of easterlies forecast to set in before the weekend it ought to be a safe bet that today's Wryneck won't be the only one we see this year © Martin Cade: