A huge improvement today saw migration at last regain some momentum with a good little drop of particularly Chiffchaffs on the ground and a strong overhead passage that included the first four-figure total of Meadow Pipits; a Wryneck at the Bill also provided some long-overdue scarcity interest. An arrival on the ground was obvious as dawn broke but it proved to be a slow-burner, with the peak in numbers of Chiffchaffs - including about 100 at the Bill - not coming until much later in the morning; 40 Wheatears, 30 each of Yellow Wagtail, Blackcap and Willow Warbler, 20 Whitethroats and single figure totals of Whinchat, Grasshopper Warbler, Reed Warbler, Sedge Warbler and Spotted Flycatcher provided the variety there, with a Lesser Whitethroat and a Pied Flycatcher at Coombefield/Thumb Lane and 15 Knot, 2 Golden Plovers and 2 Curlew Sandpipers at Ferrybridge of interest elsewhere. Overhead passage wasn't really sustained, but 1000 Meadow Pipits, 600 Swallows, 62 House Martins, 54 Siskins and a few other odds and ends passed through in quick time at the Bill. In a slack northeasterly the sea was uneventful, with 17 Balearic Shearwaters and a Teal the best off the Bill.
Quite how Portland hadn't been graced with a Wryneck so far this autumn was beyond us but that did to lead to this bird being much appreciated © Gavin Haig Not Quite Scilly (top) and John Martin (bottom)
