Last night's Obs nocmig recording brought into sharp focus just how frustrating migration watching can be: with 108
Redwings calls logged at a steady rate between mid-evening and dawn (including plenty still passing even as the dawn chorus had got into full swing) there might have been the expectation of a small arrival of birds at dawn but, sadly, literally not a single
Redwing and not really a great deal else had made landfall. Grounded migrants that did make the log included 5
Chiffchaffs and a
Goldcrest, whilst visible passage was a little more conspicuous and included 70
Meadow Pipits, 30
Linnets, 15
alba wagtails, 4
Great Tits, 4
Carrion Crows, a
Sand Martin and a
White Wagtail over the Bill and a
Sparrowhawk over Portland Harbour. Gull passage was still ongoing and included 145
Common Gulls through off the Bill; another 7
Red-throated Divers also passed by there.
Common Gull passage has been conspicuous in recent days: movement has been most obvious at the Bill but no doubt many of the birds settled at Ferrybridge are also migrants taking a break © Pete Saunders:
Sadly, the settled gulls at Ferrybridge have not yet included the Laughing Gull that was at Lodmoor again today © Pete Saunders:
