A miserable morning of rain kept most observers indoors until later on when the weather began to brighten. The Wryneck was found again near Cristin and, while waiting for it to reappear, a strikingly pale Chiffchaff was seen in the back garden. It was clearly not a ‘normal’ Chiffchaff and, when later trapped, it was confirmed to be a Siberian Chiffchaff. Four other, more typical, Chiffchaffs were also seen, along with ten Blackcaps, a Firecrest, three Black Redstarts, a Reed Bunting and 25 Skylarks. A Lapwing was on the South End, and counts of thrushes came to 80 Redwings, 40 Blackbirds, 20 Song Thrushes, three Fieldfares and one Mistle Thrush. A lingering Bullfinch was still present, while other finches included 40 Chaffinches, ten Greenfinches, ten Goldfinches, two Lesser Redpolls and a Brambling.

Song Thrush (c) Steve Stansfield

One of the many Song Thrushes on the island at the moment, this one has a rather deformed upper mandible and part of its lower mandible missing.