Wheatears aside - and it's not exactly full of them - passerine migration has more of less ground to a halt so the day was again saved by a bit of sea passage. A
Sooty Shearwater through off the Bill may or may not have been the first of the autumn (...does anyone have details of the reports carried by the news services during the week before last?), whilst 250
Kittiwakes, 5
Balearic Shearwaters, 4
Arctic Skuas, 3
Sanderling, 2
Manx Shearwaters and singles of
Common Scoter,
Whimbrel and
Sandwich Tern constituted the other passers and a trickle of
Lesser Black-backed Gulls headed away south. Forty
Wheatears made up the vast majority of the day's grounded migrant tally at the Bill and 165
Ringed Plovers and 150
Dunlin made up almost all of the wader tally at Ferrybridge.
Autumn Ladies-tresses are now in flower in fair numbers at their usual spots at the Bill. This photograph is either taken at a very flattering angle or depicts some very statuesque examples - Portland specimens are typically pretty runty and can be surprisingly hard to spot unless you're down on your hands and knees! © Steve Mansfield:
