24th May

The sea stole the show again today with the continuing unsettled conditions coming up with some pretty good totals for so late in the spring. The Bill got the best of the coverage and although some of the commoner species were not moving in the quantities logged yesterday there was better variety today, including 50 commic terns, 38 Common Scoter, 8 Pomarine Skuas, 7 Arctic Skuas, 6 Great Northern Divers, 6 Great Skuas, 3 Balearic Shearwaters and a Storm Petrel; Chesil Cove was only watched in the evening but returned totals of 6 Pomarine Skuas and 3 each of Great Skua and Arctic Skua. A Curlew Sandpiper dropped in briefly at Ferrybridge, where 2 Bar-tailed Godwits and a Grey Plover were still present, but otherwise the land was the poor relation, with nothing more than singles of White Wagtail, Blue-headed Wagtail, Reed Warbler and Willow Warbler making the log at the Bill.

In the constantly dreary conditions the only migrant Lepidoptera making the list were those attracted to the various moth-traps, including at the Obs 5 each of Diamond-back Moth and Silver Y, and a single Hummingbird Hawk-moth.


Curlew Sandpiper - Ferrybridge, 24th May 2014 © Pete Saunders