2nd December

The northeasterly breeze is getting fresher and keener by the day and although the frost held off it felt very chilly for the first time this winter; however, this did no harm on the birding front and there was a decent little list accrued by the few stalwarts in the field. A flurry of thrushes included 15 Redwings and 3 Fieldfares through at the Bill (where 147 Redwing calls had been logged overnight by the nocmig recorder at the Obs); also, 96 Starlings arrived in off the sea, 2 Golden Plovers passed through, a Blackcap was new on the ground and 2 long-staying Cetti's Warblers remained. The sea was also rewarding, with 10 Red-throated Divers, 7 Teal, 5 Eider, 3 Mallards, a Great Northern Diver and a Goldeneye through off the Bill, where 20 Common Scoter were still settled offshore. Elsewhere, an Avocet dropped in at Ferrybridge, where singles of Great Northern Diver and Goosander remained, and 4 Great Northern Divers, 4 Black-necked Grebes and 2 Eider were in Portland Harbour.

Tolerably regular there in very late autumn, this Avocet made the briefest of stops at Ferrybridge this morning © Pete Saunders: