The weather consisted of relatively overcast skies, temperatures that only reached 16 degrees C and a moderate to fairly strong north-north-westerly wind veering north-easterly in the afternoon. Unsurprisingly conditions proved conducive for seawatching, with the main highlights a Cory’s Shearwater that flew south at 1420hrs and a 1st calendar-year Black Guillemot on the sea off the Fog Station for ten minutes early morning before heading north. Other notable tallies included nine Pale-bellied Brent Geese, 217 Wigeon north, a Velvet Scoter south, 237 Common Scoter north, 294 Red-throated Divers south (highest tally since Jan 2010), 207 Manx Shearwaters north, 87 Sooty Shearwaters north, 99 Bonxies south, 95 Arctic Skuas south, four Pomarine Skuas south, four juvenile Long-tailed Skuas south and a juvenile Sabine’s Gull north.
The north-easterly airflow also provided a vector for passerines to make landfall from a more northern trajectory than the last two days, with the first two Yellow-browed Warblers of the autumn located in the afternoon. Other notable records included a Turtle Dove, two Pied Flycatchers and a Lapland Bunting.
