Overcast, with showers in the moring preceded by sunny intervals; moderate easterly winds and a high of 13 degrees C. Wildfowl interest included six Whooper Swans, the long-staying Long-tailed Duck off the South Cliffs and 128 Eiders flying north out of the bay. Both a Great Northern Diver (south) and a juvenile Long-tailed Skua (north) bizarrely flew over the Gorse Field. Nearby, a Long-eared Owl appeared in the Motorway Hedge in the afternoon. A Little Bunting was located in the Lighthouse Grassland mid-morning, but soon flew west, while a Richard’s Pipit lingered in the sheep field south of Head Farm. Migrant totals on the outer head were dominated by 121 Mealy Redpolls; other records included a Great Egret, ten Woodcock, two Goldcrests, two Firecrests, six Brambling and a Snow Bunting.
A Coues’s Arctic Redpoll was trapped and ringed at RSPB Bempton Cliffs and showed well for a couple of hours after release before it departed; nine Mealy Redpolls and a Brambling were also on the reserve. Nearby, the Hume’s Warbler was still at Buckton, with a Siberian Chiffchaff and four Mealy Redpolls at Buckton Pond.
