Overcast throughout, with a relatively light northerly wind and high of 16 degrees C. Conditions looked conducive for an arrival of migrants, and six Yellow-browed Warblers made landfall, including one at Buckton Pond and two ringed at South Landing. However, the day’s star bird was a Hoopoe that was watched flying in off the sea at North Landing at 1430hrs. It landed on the cliff side, where it fed for 10 minutes, before flying over the cafe and wasn’t relocated. Additional migrant totals included two Garden Warblers, a Pied Flycatcher, one Spotted Flycatcher, eight Wheatear, two Whinchat, one Redstart and a Tree Pipit. Added interest was provided by a Merlin hunting the outer head and a first-winter Caspian Gull on the stubble at North Landing.
A pale juvenile Long-tailed Skua flew north on a seawatch that also featured one pale-bellied and 12 dark-bellied Brent Geese.
Elsewhere, eight Stonechat, a Whinchat and one Pied Flycatcher graced RSPB Bempton Cliffs, while a Redstart was on the cliff top at Buckton. Two Pale-bellied Brent Geese and a Mediterranean Gull also flew past the reserve.
