1st-5th September
The first five days of September have been a mixed bag with generally few common migrants around, although there's been a few nice arrivals and some excellent rewards for those putting in the hours seawatching. 1st saw a Barred Warbler at Kirbest along with eight Grey Herons, three Ruff, 93 Black-tailed Godwits, a Whimbrel, 741 Turnstone, a Common Tern, 10 Willow Warblers, and one each of Whinchat, Robin, Lesser Whitethroat, Pied Flycatcher and Chiffchaff. Highlights on 2nd included a Common Rosefinch trapped at Holland, two Whinchats, a Crossbill, two Wood Pigeons, a good count of seven Common Terns and the lingering two Reed Warblers. A Collared Dove was also ringed at Holland and the Little Gull reappeared at Nouster.
3rd saw a new Pectoral Sandpiper found at Ancum (showing more gingery tones than the last bird), although the main event of the day was an arrival of 479 Wheatears (a conservative count since birds were moving throughout the day) brought down by the strong westerly wind and morning rain. A Cory's Shearwater was the highlight from the day's seawatching. 4th was fairly quiet with the lingering Common Rosefinch and Pectoral Sandpiper the day's highlights on the land. 65 Sooty and 48 Manx Shearwaters passed the Seawatch Hide.
5th began with an early Long-eared Owl trapped and ringed at Holland. The Pectoral Sandpiper was again on Ancum, with the first Pink-footed Geese of the autumn also moving through. Seawatching stole the show, however, with a Great Shearwater flying north at half 12, shortly followed by a Fea's-type Petrel! Further efforts seawatching produced another Great Shearwater in the afternoon and a dark morph Pomarine Skua, with 174 Sooty Shearwaters, 76 Manx Shearwaters, 589 Fulmars, 15 Storm Petrels and 360 Gannets logged throughout the day.
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