1st September

A nice start to September saw quieter conditions result in a good drop of grounded arrivals at the Bill where there was a noticeable shift in species composition as mid-season fare begins to come to the fore. Yellow Wagtail and Willow Warbler on 100 and 90 apiece did still take top spots numbers-wise, but 50 Robins and 20 Blackcaps were sure signs of things to come; other worthwhile totals there included 35 Wheatears, 23 Grey Wagtails, 20 each of Sedge Warbler and Whitethroat, 19 Tree Pipits, 4 Redstarts and singles of White Wagtail, Reed Warbler and Chiffchaff. Overhead, hirundines were a wee bit disappointing, with no more than 100 each of Sand Martin and Swallow. Coverage elsewhere showed up a Curlew Sandpiper amongst an otherwise samey selection of waders at Ferrybridge. It wasn't really a seawatch sort of day so 76 Balearic Shearwaters and 3 Arctic Skuas was a decent return from the Bill.

Curlew Sandpipers seem to have been turning up in some quantity elsewhere so it's been a bit of a surprise that it's taken this long for the first youngster of the autumn to show up at Ferrybridge © Pete Saunders:

After a week when they were really numerous, large gulls have suddenly dropped right away in numbers with hardly any feeding offshore or loafing in quantity in the fields either yesterday or today. Their departure has included taking away nearly all the Yellow-legged Gulls that were a feature over the last fortnight; the only one that we saw today was this youngster that dropped in at Ferrybridge this evening - through moult and/or wear it's already looking quite different to how most were looking only a short time ago; just out of esoteric interest, through some sort of mishap this one's showing a couple of next generation tail feathers © Martin Cade:

After a turbulent bank holiday weekend nice to start September with far quieter conditions. Quite a little arrival of seasonable fare at the Bill with a freaky yellow-headed Willow Warbler amongst the catches in the mist-nets.

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— Portland Bird Observatory (@portlandbirdobs.bsky.social) September 1, 2026 at 7:57 AM