Initial cloud soon burnt off to leave a sunny day with a light onshore breeze developing; temperatures reached 20 degrees C. One of the features of the day was a record influx of 66 Common Buzzards moving south-east over RSPB Bempton Cliffs; flocks then split over the outer head before birds headed back inland in a south-westerly direction.
Seawatch highlights included a Little Stint south, a 1st calendar-year Mediterranean Gull lingering offshore, 30 Little Gulls, an immature Pomarine Skua south, one Sooty Shearwater north and a Marsh Harrier. A small arrival of drift migrants was apparent including two Garden Warblers, two Pied Flycatchers, one Wheatear and a Whinchat. Additional records included the Merlin, two Common Sandpipers, a Ruff, and two Swifts.
As well as the Common Buzzard influx, sightings from RSPB Bempton Cliffs included two Caspian Gulls, a Yellow-legged Gull, a Great Northern Diver (south-east), a Merlin and three Marsh Harriers. Passerine migrants were also in evidence, with two Garden Warblers, a Pied Flycatcher, one Whinchat, a Wheatear and one Tree Pipit.
