It was barely light as I made my way down from the lighthouse to the sea. I wasn't going to spend much time on sea-birds, as I was looking for small migrants this morning and the coastal strip can reveal birds in the early hours. I found a Northern Wheatear straightaway on the fence around the Fog Station. I did watch the sea-birds for a while - mainly Gannets and Kittiwakes still lingering around the cliffs where they have bred. A few Fulmar were gliding along and I was pleased to see two Arctic Skuas blogging about. On the cliff tops, Linnets and Meadow Pipits were passing through, as were occasional Swallows and Sand Martin. A Peregrine and Sparrowhawk quietened observations for a while. At the South Landing, I had the briefest of views of a 1st winter Common Redstart, in a bush behind the lifeboat house. While I remained there, hoping for another look at the Redstart, a family of Common Whitethroats, a pair of Blackcaps and this juvenile Robin were in the surrounding bushes. In the top bushes were two Yellowhammers, smart birds and not seen on every trip out nowadays. The Old Fall Plantation was my next search area - a well known site for scarce and rare migrants annually. Good numbers of Willow Warblers were high up in the trees, with a fewer number of Chiffchaffs. Within ten minutes, I found a Pied Flycatcher low down in the trees. I was hoping to find some flycatchers and this one was the first of three I came across. At Thornwick Pools, 13 Dunlin and a Ringed Plover were feeding, together with 2 Teal. Looking to the back of the pools, further migrants appeared in the form of Whinchats - at least two were in the field. Whinchat - distantly!
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