16th October

A benign few hours between yesterday's gale and this evening's heavy rain allowed for some fair coverage of a good deal of the island; common migrant-wise, there were pockets of relative plenty but the overall feel was still one of it being far quieter than's usual in mid-October - with seasonable fare such as thrushes and Linnet flocks pretty well absent. By way of less frequent migrants, the Wryneck resurfaced at the Obs Quarry, at least 7 Firecrests were dotted about the centre and north, 2 Black Redstarts were at the Bill and a Woodlark was at Coombefield Quarry. The strongest passage to date of Skylarks - including 180 south at the Bill - was the highlight overhead, with 210 each of Meadow Pipit and Linnet, 180 alba wagtails and 42 Chaffinches also through at the Bill. After a lull yesterday, Kittiwakes got moving again offshore, where more than 200 passed by off the Bill, with 2 Balearic Shearwaters and an Arctic Skua amongst the other sea interest.

One of the day's Firecrests © Dave Foot...


...and the Wryneck and Black Redstart at the Bill © Roger Hewitt: