The beginning of a more unsettled period of weather began today with a brisk southeasterly airflow seeing attentions largely focused out to sea, with a productive morning from the various watchpoints around the Bill recording a combined total of 3,500 a
uks, 45
Arctic Skuas, 30
Common Scoters, 17
Ringed Plovers, 14
Balearic Shearwaters, 14
Common Terns, 10
Manx Shearwaters, 4
Teal, 2
Arctic Tern and singles of
Puffin,
Sooty Shearwater,
Great Skua,
Red-throated Diver,
Great Crested Grebe and
Pochard. If any grounded passerine migrants were present, they went largely undetected hidden away in the windswept bushes, with a trickle of departing
Swallows the only visible signs of migration overhead; additionally, 2
Yellow-legged Gulls were grounded on East Cliffs. Away from the Bill, another
Arctic Skua was logged over the harbour, with 4
Bar-tailed Godwits and a
Curlew Sandpiper present at Ferrybridge.
The chief prize from our visit to the Bill was this drake Pochard high over the top of Pulpit Rock- a hardly even annual sight out here...
...whilst amongst the more routine fare there was a nice mix of juvenile and adult Arctic Skuas...
...a trickle of Balearic Shearwaters and Common Scoters...
...and plenty of Gannets demanding attention now there's such a miscellany of boobies and tropicbirds that could be tagging along with them:
The day's multitude of auks looked to be predominantly Razorbills:
Finally, a couple of variations of first-winter Yellow-legged Gull grounded in the Culverwell gull flock this afternoon © Martin Cade:
