17th October

Another day that had plenty of promise but ultimately only really delivered a Great Grey Shrike that unhelpfully proved to be both mobile and elusive. The heavy cloud cover at dawn and close proximity of some rain during the afternoon did drop a few new arrivals - Goldcrests and Chiffchaffs in particular increased everywhere - but there were only paltry numbers of the likes of thrushes that might have been expected to be better represented; scarcer migrants included 5 Yellow-browed Warblers, 3 Ring Ouzels, 2 Merlins, and singles of Short-eared Owl, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Black Redstart and Dartford Warbler. Three Teal, 2 Red-breasted Mergansers and singles of Balearic ShearwaterWigeon and Arctic Skua were of note on the sea at the Bill.

The Great Grey Shrike was a really tricky bird to get to grips with: these photos were snatched moments after it was discovered when it made a fleeting visit to a private garden at Southwell; it was only seen once more when it popped up equally briefly in the Crown Estate Field an hour later © Nick Stantiford: