12th January

Weather-wise, a shocker of a day with the drizzle of dawn giving way to heavy rain and, as it turned progressively colder towards dusk, sleet. Birding-wise, things weren't so bleak with a decent little list accumulated during the first couple of hours of the morning when a Manx Shearwater off the Bill was an unseasonable highlight. The sea was particularly busy, with the offshore feeding flock attracting c5000 auks (seemingly nearly all Razorbills) and c400 Kittiwakes amongst others; 8 Common Scoter and 7 Red-throated Divers also passed through there, whilst 4 Purple Sandpipers, a Grey Heron and a Black Redstart were about on the land. The Ferrybridge tally included 450 Dark-bellied Brents, 120 Dunlin, 15 Bar-tailed Godwits, 3 Curlew and singles of Black Brant and Eider.

As usual, the 'proper' seabirds were way too far offshore to get much value on with a camera but the Turnstones and Purple Sands did zip by a little closer © Martin Cade: