9th September

The recent drought broke quite spectacularly with belting rain before dawn that lingered a while into the morning. Hopes that this would have dropped some birds looked to have been fulfilled with the Obs garden fairly leaping with migrants once the clearance arrived; as often happens, it didn't take long before many of the arrivals filtered away but not before some half decent totals were accrued by the few fieldworkers making an effort. Spotted Flycatchers were particularly conspicuous, with a good 20 at the Bill alone, whilst Willow Warbler replaced Wheatear in top spot with 75 at the Bill and plenty more elsewhere; among the other worthwhile totals 15 Whinchats wasn't to be sniffed at these days. The only oddity uncovered was a lingering Wryneck retrapped at the Obs. With frequent reduced visibility and limited coverage the sea contributed less than might have been hoped in a freshening southwesterly but 3 Balearic Shearwaters and 2 Arctic Skuas were of note off the Bill.

Immigrant moths featured more conspicuously than of late with the rain that arrived across the Channel bringing with it a fair influx of routine species and a few rarities. Silver Ys and Rusty-dot Pearls made up the bulk of the numbers, including totals of 69 and 103 of the former at the Obs and the Grove respectively; a Vagrant China-mark D. ramburialis at the Obs was the best of the national rarities, whilst at a local level singles of Beautiful Marbled at the Obs and the Grove, a total of 6 Box-tree Moths, a Dark Crimson Underwing at the Grove and a Clay Triple-lines at Sweethill were of particular note.