8th November

Nice conditions and a lovely lot of interest today, not least a northbound passage of 4230 Chaffinches that developed during a three hour spell either side of midday. Migrant numbers were otherwise at typical end of season levels, with 32 Bramblings, 3 Woodcock and a Mistle Thrush off most note at the Bill; rarity interest came in the form of the Little Bunting still visiting a private garden at Southwell, the Black Brant again at Ferrybridge and a Siberian Lesser Whitethroat and the long-staying Wryneck trapped/retrapped in the Crown Estate Field.

The Chaffinch movement was a compelling spectacle and developed as cloud cover rolled in a few hours after dawn - it would have been interesting to discover if birds had been moving before this but were just too high in the clear sky to have been detected from the ground © Martin Cade/Erin Taylor: