26th August

A quieter day still had a fair variety of species to keep it interesting, even though numbers of migrants were generally lower. A couple of Common Rosefinches and a new Barred Warbler were the only scarcities, and an unusually early Goldcrest and 2 Yellow Wagtails were new species for the autumn. Other passerines included 5 Tree Pipits, 2 White Wagtails, 1 Common Redstart, 3 Whinchats, 80 Wheatears, 1 Common Whitethroat, 3 Garden Warblers, 26 Willow Warblers and 2 Pied Flycatchers.

Waders included 2 Little Stints, a Greenshank, a Green Sandpiper and a Common Sandpiper; raptors were represented by 1 each of Hen Harrier, Sparrowhawk, Kestrel, Merlin and Peregrine; and 2 Storm Petrels and 2 Sooty Shearwaters were the highlights from the seawatching hide.

This young Whinchat was caught in the new Heligoland trap outside the observatory.