12th October

Whilst the rest of the country revelled in rare vagrants from the west and scarcities from the east, we were left swimming our way around a seemingly drowning island with only intermittent flocks of Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs to maintain our levels of enthusiasm. Two pairs of jeans, two waterproof coats and a soaked pair of walking boots later and our migrant tally consisted of a scatter of 4 Firecrests, a Woodlark and a Merlin. Thankfully Ferrybridge provided some much needed variety and the lingering Black Brant, two Bar-tailed Godwits, a Black-tailed Godwit and nine Red-breasted Mergansers improved the day list exponentially.