A bright day, with prolonged sunny intervals and a light south-west wind. Seawatching highlights included six dark-bellied Brent Geese (two north, four south), 26 Wigeon, two Tufted Duck, a Great Northern Diver flying south, 136 Little Gulls north, three Bonxies south, five Arctic Skuas north, a juvenile Pomarine Skua lingering offshore and a juvenile Long-tailed Skua doing the same.
Eighteen Whooper Swans (16 and two) moved south, along with eight Pink-footed Geese, whilst a Water Rail sheltering in a cave in Selwick’s Bay was undoubtedly ‘fresh in’; a Jack Snipe was also flushed from the nearby Lighthouse Grassland. Although not on the scale of earlier in the week, an arrival of passerines took place, headlined by two Waxwings. Additional sightings included 96 Skylarks, two Jays, 910 Starlings (inc. 620 in off during the seawatch), 155 Blackbird, 40 Song Thrush, 430 Fieldfare, 270 Redwing, three Ring Ouzel, five Yellow-browed Warblers, the Barred Warbler, six Lesser Redpoll, 30 Brambling, eight Crossbill and a Lapland Bunting. A total of 69 birds were caught and ringed, including 16 Blackbird, nine Redwing, five Song Thrush, a Treecreeper and two Lesser Redpoll.
West of the Dykes, sightings from Reighton included ten Whooper Swans and 20 Crossbill. RSPB Bempton Cliffs attracted 60 Skylark, 180 Redwing, one Ring Ouzel, a Whinchat, five Brambling and 30 Chaffinch.
