In the face a keen and really chilly northeasterly and under a drab sky most recognisable forms of enthusiasm dwindled away in an instant at dawn. After a few hours - and on the cusp of brighter skies materialising - a tiny trickle of incoming Meadow Pipits did develop with a few alba wagtails tagging along; a few dozen pipits were logged from a distance but it looked likely that a concerted watch on West Cliffs would have been rewarded with the first three figure passage of the spring. It otherwise looked to be very quiet everywhere with a Black Redstart at the Bill and a Red-throated Diver passing by offshore all that could be mustered.
We remarked a while ago on the relative paucity of young Mediterranean Gulls this winter and the same comment could be applied to Black-headed Gulls, with last year's youngsters making up a considerably smaller proportion than usual of the winter numbers at Ferrybridge © Pete Saunders:
We get the impression that Adders are much scarcer these days than they were a few decades ago but they can still be found in a few favoured spots - this one was making the most of the warm sunshine on Saturday © Andy Mitchell: