25th September

Although it remained unseasonably warm - particularly when the sun eventually broke through late in the afternoon - there was a different feel to the weather today with heavily overcast skies and occasional mistiness the order of the morning. The hopes that this might drop more migrants were soon dashed as dawn broke to reveal general quietness; however, more did emerge as the day wore on and the day's final tally wasn't too bad in the circumstances. Two Cattle Egrets over the Bill were a decent enough highlight (despite the huge increases elsewhere there are still fewer than ten island records in total), with the likes of eight Golden Plover, four Hobbys and several sightings of Short-eared Owls some of the other less regular migrants logged. Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs again accounted for the bulk of the common migrant total, with both well into three figures over the island as a whole; although variety wasn't too bad most of the other routine migrants struggled to get into double figures. Balearic Shearwaters continued to entertain offshore with 50 passing through off the Bill, where plenty more Mediterranen Gulls and a lone Arctic Skua also made the list

The Cattle Egrets and one of the four Short-eared Owls at the Bill © Matt Phelps