Little Mix

A small bundle of delight; a Little Bunting (David Steel)

One of two Little Buntings today (David Steel)

A cold stunner from the north; Mealy Redpoll (David Steel)

The North Sea building

Monday 30th September comments: The easterly weather front which has been building for a number of days finally intensified resulting in heavy seas and no boats sailing. Interestingly it appears we’ll be stuck in this weather pattern for a number of days, so the team are well and truly cut off from the outside world. Welcome to the autumn!

On a more positive note the easterly winds have produced as more migrant birds have poured into the islands. Redwings, Song Thrushes and Brambling have given the islands a very wintry feel although with a good scattering of summer migrants including Ring Ouzel, and several warbler species, it brings it home that this is migration period.

Amongst the throngs of commoner migrants, we’ve also had some rarer arrivals (as usual!). The major highlight came in the form of two Little Buntings which arrived on Brownsman before one departed west towards Inner Farne and the mainland. Other highlights included a Richard’s Pipit on Inner Farne, four Yellow-browed Warblers (but one was found sadly dead), a Short-eared Owl, a stunning Mealy Redpoll (a very pale bird!) and a Hooded Crow!

It’s been a great year for migrant birds so far and with more easterly winds in the forecast, things are warming up nicely! Binoculars at the ready everyone!