10th May

The quietest day on the land for quite some time was saved from abject failure by a trickle of skuas on the sea, namely three Pomarine, six Arctic and two Greats past Chesil Cove and two Pomarine, 12 Arctic and two Greats off the Bill (two of the Pomarines at each site were certainly the same individuals but there was far from complete duplication with the others); another 7 Great Northern Divers and 6 Eider also passed through off the Bill where there was more evidence of a considerable displacement of Kittiwakes with movement in both directions involving some hundreds of individuals. The highlight on the land was undoubtedly a Serin over the Obs; the dearth of commoner migrants was more than borne out by the woefully low total of just five birds trapped and ringed at the Obs and Culverwell combined. 

A seawatch with three species of skua is never a bad one, particularly when the 'parasitic jaegers' are behaving just as they should and the Poms have full-blown spoons © Pete Saunders:






And a few more from the seawatch: Pomarine & Arctic Skuas and Mediterranean Gull © Mike Trew:





With word being received of an influx of Painted Ladys elsewhere in the country it was no surprise that the island's first of the year pitched up at the Obs today © Martin Cade: