With rain an ongoing affliction - throughout the morning at least - fieldwork opportunities were constantly interrupted and no doubt the less rewarding for it. There was a fair spread of grounded migrants at the Bill but nothing at all unexpected was uncovered; the Marsh Harrier was still about there, whilst elsewhere the Teal remained at Southwell/Suckthumb and a late Little Tern and singles of Black-tailed Godwit, Curlew Sandpiper and Little Stint were at Ferrybridge. Overhead passage was a non-event during the morning but 2 more Ospreys passed through during the afternoon and a late Swift passed over at Southwell. The Balearic Shearwater tally off the Bill dwindled slightly to c200, with 58 Sandwich Terns, 43 commic terns, 11 Arctic Skuas and 3 Great Skuas also through there.
Not the sort of view you expect to get of a Teal at Portland...
...the bird that spent a while yesterday in Pete and Debby Saunders' garden at Sweethill moved a couple of hundred metres to Nick Stantiford's garden today and was also seen once at Suckthumb © Nick Stantiford:
Wader interest at Ferrybridge included Black-tailed Godwit and Curlew Sandpiper © Pete Saunders and the lingering Little Stint © Martin Cade:
After several days of only noticing juvenile Knots settled at Ferrybridge, this evening it was interesting to see a juvenile and adult-type bird together there - a parent and youngster remaining together on migration or just a coincidental hitching-up? We thought that adult Siberian-breeding Knots didn't moult out of their summer plumage until they reach Africa so were wondering if these were birds from Canada/Greenland (that moult earlier in Europe) but on looking more closely at the adult it looks to have left-over juvenile small coverts near the wing-bend so we're guessing it's actually in first summer plumage - is that right? © Martin Cade:
