19th September

A lovely day to be out birding with plenty of routine passage to get amongst. Chiffchaffs are coming to the fore, with a good 80 at the Bill and plenty more in all the areas of cover that were checked further up the island, but grounded arrivals were otherwise not especially numerous or varied, with 2 Grasshopper Warblers at the Bill and a Ring Ouzel at Suckthumb Quarry the best of the less frequent offerings. Overhead passage was stronger, with another wodge of well into four figures of Meadow Pipits and plenty of pulses of hirundines through at the Bill but, as with the situation on the ground, a lone Merlin over the Bill was about as good as it got by way of quality. After a few days of offshore breezes sea interest has dwindled right away and a single passing Arctic Skua was the only bird of note off the Bill.

Immigrant moth numbers crept up a little, with 5 each of Pearly Underwing and Silver Y, 2 each of Dark Sword Grass and Scarce Bordered Straw, and singles of Rusty-dot Pearl, Rush Veneer, Delicate and White-speck trapped overnight at the Obs.