A wholesale change in the weather saw anticyclonic conditions set in and the breeze shift into the northeast for the first time in weeks. In some ways the complexion of the birding didn't change that much: it ticked along on the ground without there being a huge arrival of migrants, it was quieter overhead than anticipated and another avalanche of Kittiwakes ensured there was plenty to see over the sea. A pleasant change was the arrival of a scarcity even if that proved to be a blink and you missed it sort of event when an Alpine Swift over the Obs shot through so quickly that even folk who were indoors were left floundering/dipping in its wake when they couldn't get outdoors quickly enough to see it. A reappearance of the long-staying Wryneck - in the field this time - also provided some interest for the weekend visitors. On the migrant front, Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs totalled well past 50 each at the Bill alone, but further variety was a little more limited than might have been hoped, with the likes of singles of Pied Flycatcher and Firecrest in the Thumb Lane area as good as it got for the less frequents. Overhead passage was less than compelling: the likes of hirundines and Meadow Pipits were numerous but certainly not abundant, whilst there was little else of particular note amongst the tag-alongs. For a while Kittiwakes were pouring past over the sea - 2500 passed the Bill in barely more than two hours after dawn, with 200 Mediterranean Gulls, 10 Balearic Shearwaters, 3 Arctic Skuas and a Great Northern Diver also through there; additionally, a Red-throated Diver was settled off Chesil.
The lingering Wryneck was a little more obliging today, providing the first in-field views since it was ringed on 8th September © Martin King:
