A relatively bright day, with sunny intervals, a light northerly wind developing and temperatures reaching 19 degrees C. The day’s main feature was the large numbers of drift migrant passerines present, including: 185 Wheatear, 94 Willow Warblers, 63 Redstarts, 37 Whinchat, 36 Pied Flycatchers, 25 Siskin, 13 Lesser Whitethroats, 12 Tree Pipits, nine Spotted Flycatchers, seven Garden Warblers, five Whitethroats and two Reed Warblers.
Thornwick Pools attracted two Little Stints along with the Garganey, 17 Dunlin and a Greenshank. Raptor interest included a superb Honey Buzzard that flew south low over South Landing mid-morning; two Hobbies and a Marsh Harrier were also recorded, along with eight Common Buzzards moving south-west. A minimum of three 1cy Caspian Gulls frequented the outer head, together with a lone Yellow-legged Gull; seven Sooty Shearwaters, 117 Common Terns and 14 Arctic Terns flew north during the morning seawatch, while 16 Arctic Skuas moved south.
Sightings from Bempton included an adult male Merlin, a 1cy Caspian Gull, 14 Wheatear, nine Redstart, three Pied Flycatchers and three Whinchat. Nearby, an Icterine Warbler was ringed at Buckton.
