Not that May has a shabby track record but June's always the month when the rare and scarce quotient ups a few notches and so it proved today, with a fly-by Golden Oriole at Top Fields/Sweethill, a Honey Buzzard through over Church Ope Cove and a Grey-headed Wagtail settled and showing nicely at Reap Lane. To confound expectations that an overcast morning would always outscore a cloudless one today's migrant tally was a considerable improvement on yesterday's, including excellent totals of 33 Spotted Flycatchers and 18 Reed Warblers scattered around the Bill and the centre of the island; the v ..read more

Since it looked like the only day during a long run of very samey anticyclonic weather that would have any sort of cloud cover at dawn expectations were certainly on the positive side today. Although migrants did respond there was perhaps not quite as much on offer as had been hoped, with 57 Swifts and 25 Spotted Flycatchers at the Bill and 64 Sanderling at Ferrybridge accounting for the bulk of the numbers; a Turtle Dove at the Bill was the only oddity discovered. Variety came in the form of 6 Willow Warblers, 3 each of Reed Warbler and Blackcap, 2 Garden Warblers and singles of Whinchat and ..read more

Relatively quiet today, although such is the ongoing momentum of late passage that even a quieter day had more on offer than we'd usually dare hope for on the penultimate day of May. The day's grounded migrant tally included 10 Spotted Flycatchers, 5 Willow Warblers, 2 Whinchats and a Reed Warbler at the Bill and 50 Ringed Plovers, 10 Sanderlings, 3 Dunlin, 2 Bar-tailed Godwits and 2 Turnstones at Ferrybridge; there looked to be very little visible passage to speak of although the first Sand Martin for a while was of interest at the Bill. The sea continued to be worth attention, with 41 commic ..read more

Goodness knows when this is going to end but if we're seeing this many late migrants drop in when there's hardly been a cloud in the sky for the last week then there must be an awful lot of birds still on the move. Today suffered from severely reduced coverage but there was still 10 Spotted Flycatchers, 4 Whinchats, 3 Willow Warblers and singles of Yellow Wagtail, Wheatear, Sedge Warbler, Reed Warbler and Blackcap grounded at the Bill/Southwell, with a sample hour-long watch on West Cliffs producing 35 Swifts, 6 House Martins and 5 Swallows passing through overhead. Small waders are usually on ..read more

Passage continues to tick over far more impressively than ought to be the case in late May, with a big increase in wader numbers and variety a notable feature today. Before getting overrun with holidaymakers and dogs the sandflats at Ferrybridge were busy, with totals that included 70 Ringed Plovers, 13 each of Dunlin and Sanderling, 4 each of Shelduck and Grey Plover, 3 Turnstones, 2 Shoveler and singles of Knot and Redshank; this richer vein of waterfowl and waders was reflected elsewhere, including 5 Mallards and singles of Whimbrel and Sanderling at the Bill. Tern passage also continued, w ..read more

More lovely, settled weather and more late migrants today. After yesterday's promising signs it was the sea that returned to the fore to provide the best of the day's action including a strong passage of terns: 790 commics made up the bulk of the numbers, but the addition of 25 Sandwich and a single Black, together with 58 Common Scoter and singles of Arctic Skua and Common Gull, made for a pretty decent late May watch at the Bill. Passerines still featured but there was certainly evidence of diminishing returns on that front, with 10 Willow Warblers, 8 Spotted Flycatchers and 3 each of W ..read more

Very fair, almost cloudless conditions seem to be setting in which is a shame as there are clearly still late migrants on the move and the chances of them dropping look to be diminishing. Today's Bill tally included 17 Spotted Flycatchers, 7 each of Whinchat and Willow Warbler, 5 Black-headed Gulls, 2 Reed Warblers and singles of Turnstone, Tree Pipit, Wheatear, Redstart and Blackcap, with a handful of Swifts and hirundines still arriving overhead; a second singing Corn Bunting there was additional to the long-stayer still present. Spotted Flycatchers in particular were spread quite liberally ..read more

The migrants keep coming, with today's grounded tally at the Bill including 10 each of Willow Warbler and Spotted Flycatcher, 8 Whinchats, 7 Reed Warblers, 4 Yellow Wagtails, 2 or 3 each of Sedge Warbler, Garden Warbler, Blackcap and Lesser Whitethroat, and singles of Turtle Dove and Mistle Thrush; overhead, Swallows picked up a little but Swifts and House Martins hardly featured. The sea provided 3 Arctic Skuas but precious little else on the move. The Scarce Blue-tailed Damselflies have clearly persisted for another year on the pond in the Crown Estate Field, with several on the wing there ..read more

Today was always going to struggle to live up to yesterday's happenings and so it proved - although in all fairness there was far more about than would usually be expected in late May. The day's perfectly respectable migrant totals at the Bill included 107 Swifts, 28 House Martins, 15 Spotted Flycatchers, 8 Blackcaps, 6 Willow Warblers, 5 Reed Warblers, 3 Wheatears, 2 Whinchats, 2 Chiffchaffs, a Blue-headed Wagtail and a Garden Warbler, with Ferrybridge chipping in with 30 Dunlin, 24 Ringed Plover, 4 Turnstones, 3 Sanderlings and singles of Grey Plover, Bar-tailed Godwit and Common Sandpiper ..read more

With a stiff headwind and intermittent cloud lapping the coast after a very clear night the stage was always set for a bit of late movement today but the logjam of migrants delayed by the hitherto cool spring - and perhaps also the recent turbulent conditions further south? - was clearly greater than we'd imagined and the blistering migration event that unfolded as dawn broke caught everyone out. Big Spotted Flycatchers movements aren't frequent events here so the spectacle of 282 through at the Bill - a total only exceeded by the likely once in a lifetime tsunami of 1000 on 1st June 2013 - wa ..read more