Sunday 8th October - an excellent day with strong migration

Tim Jones, Tim Davis and James Diamond report a fabulous day of sun and light winds, with near constant migration. The 2 Hawfinches left high to the east at 7.55am. Two Yellow-browed Warblers were located, one in Smelly Gully and one along the Upper East Side path. One ringtail Hen Harrier passed high over Quarter Wall, a Short-eared Owl was seen near Tibbetts, and there was a Jack Snipe at Pondsbury. A Lesser Whitethroat was seen at Quarter Wall and a Ring Ouzel and a Garden Warbler were in Millcombe. There was a very strong migration of common migrants, including 500 Swallow, 40 House Martin, 1 Sand Martin, 700 Meadow Pipit, 300 Linnet, 120 Goldfinch. Also counted were 6 Water Rail, 2 Teal, 13 Oystercatcher, 1 Snipe, 1 Sparrowhawk, 3 Merlin, 5 Wheatear and 8 Stonechat. There were also 60 Goldcrest, 8 Chiffchaff, 10 Blackcap, a Spotted Flycatcher, 2 Siskin and 2 Redpoll. Between 17:00 and 17:45, 3 Grey Herons were seen flying south towards Hartland Point.