A lone Bordered Straw at the Obs was the night's only immigrant moth.
Shelducks - Ferrybridge, 21st May 2015 © Pete Saunders
21st May
A further improvement in the conditions - albeit with the breeze still being in the north-west - saw a lot more movement today: variety picked up on the ground, whilst hirundines were arriving in good numbers for so late in the season. The day's highlights were a Serin that pitched into the Obs garden for no more than a few seconds and an Osprey that passed overhead at Ferrybridge, but the upturn in the overall migrant situation was almost as welcome. Hirundines provided the numbers, with a sample 90 minute count of 250 Swallows and 150 House Martins north along West Cliffs reflecting a strong passage that lasted well into the afternoon; small numbers of Swifts, a few late Sand Martins and a single Redshank also passed through overhead. On the ground only the south of the island got much passerine coverage, but totals there included 6 Spotted Flycatchers, 2 each of Black Redstart, Reed Warbler, Willow Warbler and Chiffchaff, and singles of Redstart, Blackcap and Lesser Whitethroat. Waders at Ferrybridge included 16 Sanderling and 2 Whimbrel.
A lone Bordered Straw at the Obs was the night's only immigrant moth.
A lone Bordered Straw at the Obs was the night's only immigrant moth.
