A slackening of the wind and a clearing of the skies unleashed some of the migrants that were obviously held up yesterday. The morning skies teemed with mixed flocks of Meadow Pipits, alba Wagtails, Chaffinches, Siskins and Goldfinches. Meadow Pipits topped the tallies with over 550 birds, closely followed by nearly 500 Linnets. Amongst these mass flocks, oddities appeared with the first strong push of Skylark migration intermingled with 10 Redpolls, four Grey Wagtails and two Tree Pipits. Of course, a day of pipit migration wouldn't be complete without a Merlin in tow, today's was a small male hot in pursuit of the downed flocks along the East Cliffs. On the deck, there were few new surprises as the long-staying Yellow-browed Warbler at the Obs was joined by its usual posse of Chiffchaffs, Blackcaps and a single Willow Warbler. Similar numbers of common migrants were unearthed across the island, as well as another Yellow-browed Warbler along the East Weares.
