Had it not been for the continuing Dotterel at Ferrybridge today would have been distinctly underwhelming on the migrant front, with the crystal clear night and bright, sunny morning seeing to it that precious little was grounded. The conditions did offer something for the vismiggers who enjoyed some limited passage along West Cliffs, whilst another potentially very noteworthy overhead sighting concerned a Goshawk reported by visitors over the north of the island; the more mundane diurnal passage included 156 Meadow Pipits, 72 Wood Pigeons, 13 Fieldfares, 11 Carrion Crows, 9 Stock Doves and 7 Redwings through past the watchpoint at Wallsend. On the ground, 5 Firecrests (only one of them a new arrival) and a Redstart were easily the best on offer at the Bill. The sea ticked over with divers, including 15 Red-throated, a Black-throated and a Great Northern through off the Bill, but little else was on the move.
On a day with little about on the ground there were still a handful of Wheatears to brighten things up © Geoff Orton:
Quite amazingly, having already had two off-island Barn Owls make it here in the last year, last week we received news of a third outsider found on the island - this one was found dead at Weston on 22nd March by a member of the public and its ring revealed it had been marked as a nestling at Bluntshay, near Bridport in west Dorset, in June of last year. Quite why so many Barn Owls are travelling such long distances to get here is beyond us and it seems, since two of the three have been found dead, that they're not thriving once they do get here - maybe on arrival they're finding that the choicest habitat is already spoken for by the local population so they get relegated to the margins. Many thanks to the Alan Reese and Luke Phillips for making us aware of this record:
