Today was always going to struggle to live up to yesterday's happenings and so it proved - although in all fairness there was far more about than would usually be expected in late May. The day's perfectly respectable migrant totals at the Bill included 107
Swifts, 28
House Martins, 15
Spotted Flycatchers, 8
Blackcaps, 6
Willow Warblers, 5
Reed Warblers, 3
Wheatears, 2
Whinchats, 2
Chiffchaffs, a
Blue-headed Wagtail and a
Garden Warbler, with Ferrybridge chipping in with 30
Dunlin, 24
Ringed Plover, 4
Turnstones, 3
Sanderlings and singles of
Grey Plover,
Bar-tailed Godwit and
Common Sandpiper. The sea merited attention as well, with the year's first
Black Tern through off the Bill quite a highlight in this day and age of their extreme paucity in these waters; further totals from there of c500
Manx Shearwaters, 70
commic terns, c25
Lesser Black-backed Gulls, 3
Balearic Shearwaters, 3
Common Scoter and a
Great Skua marked it out as a pretty decent watch given the benign conditions.
The expectation for a rarity travelling alone on the day after a fall of common migrants fell flat - maybe there were just still too many commoner things about? Wheatear and Whinchat at the Bill © Martin Cade and Common Sandpiper at Ferrybridge © Pete Saunders:
And even without the migrants the breeding birds were loving the perfect conditions and showing at their best - Skylark and Little Tern at Ferrybridge © Pete Saunders:
