5th October

Same old, same old. Just at the moment we seem to be stuck in a groove of there clearly being passage afoot - the early doors vismig returns have been pretty decent - but precious little seems to be grounding in any quantity. Dawn saw plenty of cloud in the sky and even one or two showers not too far away but it was remarkably quiet on the ground, with no more than single figure totals of Wheatear, Blackcap,  Chiffchaff and Goldcrest at the Bill, where there weren't any particularly oddities discovered. In contrast there was plenty passing overhead, with totals of 560 Meadow Pipits, 320 Linnets, 190 Great Black-backed Gulls, 167 Pied Wagtails, 65 Goldfinches, 62 Siskins and 50 Skylarks amongst others accrued in quick time at the Bill. The sea remained quiet, with 5 Balearic Shearwaters and a Dark-bellied Brent Goose as good as it got off the Bill.


The Death's-head Hawkmoths have been very popular attractions this week - here's a little compilation of some phone video clips from the initially discovery of the first one up to the release of the second one © Martin Cade: