27th August

A day of long-awaited easterlies that looked initially to be a considerable disappointment ultimately came good with quite an arrival of common migrants, many of which dropped in/passed through as the morning went on, and the almost expected discovery of  the autumn's first Wryneck (at Culverwell); other oddities included a Marsh Harrier heading south from Ferrybridge to the Bill and an Osprey at Ferrybridge. The Bill area got the most thorough coverage and returned totals that included 120 Wheatears, 60 Yellow Wagtails, 30 Willow Warblers, 10 each of Tree Pipit and Sedge Warbler, 4 each of Redstart and Whinchat, and singles of Yellow-legged Gull and Spotted Flycatcher on the ground and 400 Swallows and 200 Sand Martins through overhead. A good scatter of a similar range of grounded migrants were reported from all other areas that were checked, whilst the day's waterbird miscellany at Ferrybridge included 5 Shelduck, 3 Redshanks, 2 Teal, 2 Knot and Yellow-legged Gull. Despite seemingly favourable conditions seawatching at the Bill didn't come up with anything better than 2 Arctic Skuas, a Balearic Shearwater and a Teal.

Immigrant moths were again very poorly represented, with singles of Scarce Bordered Straw at Sweethill and Latticed Heath at the Obs providing the only quality.



Osprey - Ferrybridge, 27th August 2014 © Sean Foote The Portland Naturalist

Also from Ferrybridge, some of yesterday's waders - Turnstone  (© Matt Phipps) and Knot (© Pete Saunders):




Sweethill has come up with the pick of the last couple of night's moths - Olive-tree Pearl and Scarce Bordered Straw (© Debby Saunders):