1st September

Completely clear skies and a dip in the strength of the wind appeared to offer little promise on the migrant front so it was quite a surprise when dawn revealed plenty of new arrivals. Pretty well all that was uncovered was expected fare, including 60 Yellow Wagtails, 40 Willow Warblers, 20 Blackcaps and 15 Sedge Warblers at the Bill, whilst 5 White Wagtails and singles of Little Ringed Plover, Grasshopper Warbler and Pied Flycatcher at the Bill, another Pied Flycatcher at Thumb Lane and 9 Knot and a Black-tailed Godwit at Ferrybridge were as good as it got for minor scarcities. The sea was much quieter than over the last couple of days: Manx Shearwaters were reduced to just 200 off the Bill, where 5 Balearic Shearwaters, a Great Skua and an Arctic Skua also passed through.

We've never given much credence to the supposed correlation between grounded migrant numbers and the phase of the moon but today did look to be one of those occasions when the lack of a moon offered itself as just about the only plausible explanation for there being migrants in numbers on the ground © Martin King: