17th November

The beginnings of a change in the weather that saw a cold easterly freshen up and quickly clear away the low cloud of recent days also saw to it that the Pallid Swift headed away south almost as soon as it had emerged from roost at Chesil Cove. New arrivals and visible passage - the latter particularly over the sea - were prominent, with a really varied list accumulated at the Bill, where 70 Redwings, 37 Lapwings,  25 Goldcrests, 23 Teal, 21 Dunlin, 17 Wigeon, 7 Chiffchaffs, 6 Snipe, 6 Black Redstarts, 6 Bramblings, 5 Woodcock, 3 Fieldfares, 3 Siskins, 2 Red-breasted Mergansers, singles of Great Crested Grebe, Red-throated Diver, Mallard, Pintail and Tufted Duck, and a total of 39 miscellaneous unidentified waders (all seawatch sightings that couldn't be clinched) were logged; other island sites were well covered and returned extras that included 39 Lapwings, 6 Teal, 5 Black Redstarts, 3 Woodcock, a Long-tailed Duck (at Ferrybridge) and a Snipe.

The Ferrybridge Long-tailed Duck © Debby Saunders (settled) and Pete Saunders (flying): 




A stiff easterly in November usually comes up trumps for wildfowl, with 29 Teal amongst the variety logged today; these 3 were at Ferrybridge  © Pete Saunders:


The various Woodcock were typically unobliging; this one was flushed from the rocks close to Pulpit Rock © Ted Pressey: