The autumn's first Black-tailed Godwit at Ferrybridge - such good-looking birds © Debby Saunders:
8th July
Migration gathered a little bit of momentum today, notably in the form of a decent movement of 170 Sand Martins and 40 Swallows over the Bill; Swifts weren't so well represented, whilst the only other observations from the land concerned the first Black-tailed Godwit of the autumn at Ferrybridge and the lingering Grey Wagtail at the Bill. A westbound passage of 140 Kittiwakes off the Bill was unexpected and perhaps suggested that some other breeding colonies have fared as poorly as the Bill birds; 80 Manx Shearwaters, 70 Mediterranean Gulls and 15 Common Scoter made up the rest of the numbers on the sea, with 3 Great Crested Grebes, 2 Whimbrel, 2 Yellow-legged Gulls and an Arctic Skua providing some quality.
