It was a relatively calm day, with a light south-westerly wind developing in the afternoon; occasional sunny intervals and warm, with temperatures reaching 20 degrees C. Seawatching proved productive with a dark-bellied Brent, three Pintail, a Goosander, 11 Eider and 57 Red-throated Divers all flying south. Northbound were two dark-bellied Brent Geese, 33 Sooty Shearwaters, 18 Manx Shearwaters, 43 Little Gulls, three Pomarine Skuas, 29 Arctic Skuas and three juvenile Long-tailed Skuas. A first-winter Caspian Gull flew in off the sea at the Fog Station, with a Mediterranean Gull of similar age offshore. A pod of c.25 Bottlenose Dolphins also moved north past the outer head at 1440hrs.
Six Whooper Swans dropped onto fields on the outer head, whilst 425 Pink-footed Geese flew south . However, the day’s most notable record related to Flamborough’s third ever Glossy Ibis that flew north along the cliffs from Selwick’s Bay towards North Landing at 1205hrs; it then dropped onto Thornwick Pools very briefly but did not linger. The long-staying juvenile Spotted Redshank and lone Green Sandpiper also remained at Thornwick Pools. On the outer head, a calling Little Owl early evening was a noteworthy record of a species barely annual east of the Dykes. Passerine migrants included a Garden Warbler, 12 Stonechats, 14 Wheatears, a Redstart, seven Grey Wagtails (south) and a Yellow Wagtail.
A total of 114 Pink-footed Geese flew south-east at RSPB Bempton Cliffs, where the pod of Bottlenose Dolphins moved north; one Black Darter also remained on the reserve.
