Common and Siberian Chiffchaff from the Plantation today, Ephraim Perfect; Ephraim's Bird Blog

Migration has been held up for a long time on the west coast, with near-enough constant south-westerly winds hindering all but the most determined migrants. Today, however, the damn broke in the most spectacular fashion, with a truly stunning morning's vismig. The highlights were a Great White Egret, and vast numbers of Chaffinches, other finches and Starlings, while a good arrival of grounded migrants featured some real quality as well. The birds arctively passing through the island (both overhead and on the sea) is as follows; One Red-throated Diver, four Great Northern Divers, 57 Gannets, one Great White Egret south offfshore at 10:51, with probably the same bird seen flying over the Narrows about an hour later, three Shelducks (only our second sighting of the autumn), four Wigeons, two Teals, 158 Common Scoters (our highest count of the year), one Buzzard, three Merlins, one Golden Plover, 14 Lapwings, one Knot, one Dunlin, one Redshank, one Great Skua, 23 Mediterranean Gulls, 332 Black-headed Gulls, ten Common Gulls, 20 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, 247 Herring Gulls, 53 Kittiwakes, 23 Guillemots, 215 Razorbills, 184 Skylarks, 208 Meadow Pipits, three Grey Wagtails, 15 alba Wagtails, nine Magpies, 13 Jackdaws, eight Rooks, 45 Carrion Crows, 4815 Starlings, 1644 Chaffinches, 82 Bramblings, 11 Greenfinches, 56 Siskins, 56 Goldfinches, 47 Linnets, 40 Lesser Redpolls and 31 Reed Buntings. The numbers can never fully encapsulate the experience of a day like today, but it was extremely good fun watching a constant stream of finches and Starlings, with many other unusual species for the island like Knot, Lapwing and Jackdaw mixed in. The total of Chaffinches in particular could be a drastic underestimate of the true numbers, one single flock numbering approximately 650 was picked up passing right on the periphery of our vision, at perhaps a kilometre overhead, but how many more such gargantuan flocks could have slipped through with nothing more than the occasional call heard from vis-miggers?

Great White Egret, www.ephraimperfect.co.uk

On land it was a very good day too; The highlights included the first two Bullfinches and seven Long-tailed Tits of the year, a late Lesser Whitethroat that again looked a good candidate for Blythii, a Yellow-browed Warbler and the first Siberian Chiffchaff of the autumn. Of more regular fare, there had been a notable arrival of 50 Song Thrushes, while 62 Redwings, 56 Goldcrests and 47 Robins made them the other commonest migrants. The rest of the roll-call included four Water Rails, 21 Dunnocks (a large enough increase to suggest some migration), 15 Stonechats, 25 Blackbirds, two Mistle Thrushes, ten Chiffchaffs, a Blackcap, a Firecrest, four Coal Tits and a Great Tit.

Lesser Whitethroat, www.ephraimperfect.co.uk