Strong westerly winds from the current low are sweeping through much of england bringing rain with it. This is one of those days where lots of birders turn to sea watching. The winds are lighter over the scottish east coast where the low centre is, but multiple occluded fronts are likely to inhibit any north sea crossings. Yanks and sea birds seem to be all that is on the menu for today and tomorrow. Watching the long range forecast it is interesting to see how the north sea and baltic sea influence the low pressure as it moves slowly eastwards. The long range forecast is often unreliable but it is worth watching the wake of this front as the winds become potentially suitable.

The high pressure started to move away to the south-east today allowing a north-westerly airflow from the low above scotland. These winds would have steered the birds moving down the welsh coast into the severn estuary making the crossing from lavernock point to flat holm and then on to brean down. I could kick myself for getting up late as this was a missed opportunity. However, one observer did visit the down this morning and logged 2 ring ouzel, 2 grasshopper warblers, 6 jays and good numbers of goldcrest, robin and stonechat. With only one hours birding available before work I decided to opt for sand point and could only manage a whimbrel, grey plover and a scattering of reed buntings, blackbirds and chiffchaffs showing just how different birdlife can be two miles further down the coast. This is down the the geographical lie of the land and I will illustrate this in the future.

With no new arrivals on the east coast it would seem the window of opportunity has closed off for north sea crossings. Interestingly the high still remained over the southern half of the UK but the winds were light and variable bringing much fog. It remained to be seen if any east coast dispersals were picked up throughout and indeed a small amount was picked up in the form of White's thrush Inishboffin Co Galway, Booted Warbler Lundy, Devon, Raddes warbler Great Ormes Head, Conwy and Rustic Bunting Walney, Cumbria. Lundy is a good indicator of what has come off the welsh coast and this place did have a pretty good haul with Bluethroat and common rosefinch as well as the booted warbler.

Many of the rarities disappeared overnight including the brown shrike, sykes warbler and siberian thrush despite being cloudy all night (although perhaps not cloudy for the brown shrike). From mid afternoon yesterday cloud has slowly worked its way south covering not only scotland but scandinavia as well. This had not reached northern england or the baltic by early morning today so there could be some eastern migrants to be bagged this afternoon. Locally, at sand point the first 2 redwings of the autumn were probably icelandic origin plus a small passage of common birds.

Migration was still on the up today with new rarities turning up: siberian thrush on fair ilse, sykes warbler shetland, pallas's grasshopper warbler at donna nook, lincolnshire. This exceptional run looks set to come to an end as cloud rolls in from the north and the high pressure slips away into europe leaving us with a westerly airstream.

Continuing easterly winds from the scandinavian high have brought a good influx of birds along most of the east coast. Most birds turning up in the afternoon after seemingly making the north sea crossing in fine early morning conditions overseas. The first to break was brown flycatcher and red-flanked bluetail on fair isle followed by rustic bunting Landguard, suffolk, raddes warbler, wells, norfolk, lesser grey shrike sheringham, norfolk, olive-backed pipit, spurn, yorkshire and brown shrike also in yorkshire. Scarce migrants were also in good supply with over 60 yellow-browed warblers on the scottish islands alone. Talking of which, I have updated the yellow-browed warbler migration graphic below to include recent dates. Looks like this could be quite a task but is worthwhile keeping up as this could be a good indicator species.

After the recent small influx of yellow-browed warblers in the country I decided it may be a good exercise to produce a graphic illustrating their arrival against surface pressure chart data. The first influx on the 14th of September is clear with an arrival coinciding with an easterly wind. The 15th and 16th look like similar conditions but it was the 17th before more came in. The first decent influx occured on 21st when 17 appeared on shetlands. With none appearing farther south it appears that these birds had come in on a headwind from Norway. The 22nd shows an interesting dilema. with several records scattered in england. Was yesterdays english influx dispersals from scotland or migrants from the baltic? Spurn writes about a north-west wind veering north-east so perhaps they are scottish origin. As time goes on I will update the graphic and hopefully it will turn out to be an informative piece of information. click on the link for yellow-browed warbler migration chart

4 Buff-bellied Pipits were recorded in Iceland yesterday. Not surprising when you consider the lows that have hit the country recently. This time last year 2 buff-bellied pipits turned up on weather systems hitting the UK so the timing is spot on. Norway has also seen an impact with these winds so I wouldn't mind betting that the next falls from the baltic contain a yank or two as they filter down. Fast moving yellow-browed warblers are already hitting the west coast with one seen at strumble head, pembrokeshire. This bird could easily have come down the wash and along the welsh coast. The long range forecast shows a high coming in from the atlantic. As it moves over the north sea we should see a pickup in numbers and maybe even one or two of those yanks that I was talking about!

Despite the good conditions, the current trend suggests too much of a good thing starting with an initial pulse of good birds gradually tailing off to a steady flow and this was shown in the weekends sightings. Interestingly a wave of Pectoral Sandpipers came through in the west starting on the 17th with 2 at meare heath, somerset followed by 1 at severn beach, somerset on 18th, 1 at barrow gurney, somerset on 20th and 1 at slimbridge, gloucestershire on 21st. Raptor passage was noted more so on 20th than 21st. Wrynecks are still cropping up in the west and yellow-browed warblers are starting to turn in the east illustrating the continuing movement of migrants through the country.

A band of cloud went through during the early hours of this morning resulting in a dearth of migrants. This long slick of cloud was the wake of the same front that brought in the American Redstart at Mizen Head, Ireland. Sadly that's the only connection my patch has with American Redstart. Despite this, Vis mig soon got underway at brean down and by 09:00 some 4,500 Swallows had gone through along with 500 Meadow Pipits. The winds were around 5mph south-easterly but this wasn't set to keep up all day. As with the rest of England, the winds were forecast to be light and variable as the high from the atlantic sits over the top of us. This was bound to have an affect and was inicated by a slightly less active pager than yesterday. The long range forecast looks good as it shows lows developing over the black sea creating suitable airflows as it tracks westwards towards the baltic, however, with high pressure dominating the fronts soon weaken. I would say that we are still on target for some good birds in the coming days. Todays sighting of Cretzschmar's Bunting at Sangar, North Ronaldsway shows the reach the ideal conditions are having on the birds.

The cloud gradually burnt out throughout the day yesterday so it was good to see a return of passage. Most notable was the huge numbers of swallows passing through. They were again coming off the welsh coast along brean down, across the river axe heading east-south-east instead of the usual south-east seen in previous years. Just to let you know how many were going through, it took just 1 minute and 36 seconds to count 200 fly past (around 7,500 an hour). This sample count was at 16:30hrs suggesting this could well have been going on for most of the day.Weather conditions were warm sunny with a 5mph south-east wind giving the birds a headwind. They will also take this course with a tailwind and are great to watch firing through at high speed. On brean down this morning grasshopper warbler, redstart, tree pipit and 30 chiffchaffs. Nationally, plenty of new birds are turning up all over the country with plenty of short stayers. The Isles of Scilly produced Western Bonelli's Warbler, Melodious Warbler and Short-toed Lark today. With the high pressure that's moved in off the atlantic perhaps these birds have come in off the back of this system. Western Bonelli's Warbler is a south european species but with one on Fair Isle today caution is needed. The high does seem to be extending further into europe so perhaps a wider variety of species to come plus a mega for the twitchers!

A quiet start to the day at my local patch with virtually no migration. The heavy overnight cloud and light rain seems to have halted not only any nocturnal activity but early morning diurnal activity as well. The weather front is set to peter out during the day before it reaches the baltic and potentially spoiling our run of overseas passage. Norfolk and Kent saw moderate levels of migrant activity at several sites showing that several successive days of good conditions won't bring any significant falls but will bring birds in at a steady flow.

It's difficult keeping a website up to date in autumn when there is so much migration going on. This morning I went to brean down to look for honey buzzard as well as any other vis mig. The day started off relatively cloud free with a light easterly wind but later some mid level alto-cumulus cloud moved in and the wind changed to southerly by mid day. This is indicative of an oncoming front where cooler air comes in under the warm air and forces the cloud up forming layer cloud. Back to the birds, all was quiet between first light and 7:30 and then migrants started to trickle in/off the sea from the welsh coast. surprisingly it seemed to last for only an hour. totals included 300 house martin, 100 swallow, 280 linnet, 10 siskin, 1 tree pipit, 70 goldfinch, 10 chaffinch, 3 reed bunting and 100 meadow pipit. The first bizarre migrant of the day came when a female Pin Tailed Whydah sat amongst a flock of Linnet. Alarm bells rang but the ring on the left leg brought suspicion. Next, a Barred Warbler showed for around half an hour. This bird was definately an indicator that migrants were indeed dispersing through the country after making landfall in the east. Mid afternoon some two hours after my departure a honey buzzard was seen and photographed flying over the down. Good numbers of migrants continue to turn up on the east coast so it certainly seems like high pressure extending from the baltic into britain is an ideal condition. It is certainly starting to look like winds are a significant factor for migration whether it be on the back of a high or low pressure.

High pressure is continuing to dominate and looks set to stay for a while. Advancing mid-level cloud yesterday afternoon could have been the reason for the lack of nocturnal grounded migrants early this morning. Vis mig was reduced to just 115 meadow pipits and a trickle of swallows east over sand point this morning. A pintail along with 18 wigeon and 20 teal provided some signs of overnight migration.

The most notable migration taking this place this weekend was the continued reporting of Honey Buzzards all along the east coast. The migration appeared to be almost entirely coastal. The last big influx of Honey Buzzards in Britain was between 18th September and 1st October 2000. Looking at the charts a high pressure from Russia moved west into Scandinavia stopping the low over britain moving any further east. However, the low continued to move east under the high pressure providing and easterly air flow into the UK. So, basically the birds seemed to be following the high pressure south and meeting the low that steered them into the UK. Again as in 2000, there is indeed a high pressure advancing over scandinavia that has created an air flow right over the breeding grounds and straight into the UK. The friday, saturday and sunday charts show the same airflow creating conditions for continued passage into Englands east and north-east coast. There is a graphic on the surfbirds write up showing that these 2000 birds although mainly flew along the coast, did fly up the Humber towards merseyside, down the wash and up the thames. I don't believe these birds are blown off course as in the Surfbirds writeup but were steered or co-erced by the winds. Locally a light south-westerly wind and clear dry conditions brought some light passage possibly movements from the Wash-Severn migration route. At sand point 200 Meadow Pipits flew down channel along with good numbers of Goldfinch. Waders were on the move with 2 curlew sandpipers, 1 ruff, 24 knot and a sanderling amongst 300 dunlin/ringed plover. On sunday the day and bright conditions continued but with a change of wind direction to easterly the bird movement changed as expected. Birds on the move today included 5 snipe west, 7 grey heron west, 11 grey wagtails east, 80 siskin east and 2 tree pipits. Other migrants noted on the ground included 2 whinchat, 1 spotted flycatcher, 1 crossbill, 15 chiffchaff, 5 wheatear and 3 sand martins amongst the swallows and house martins.

It pays not to make predictions too far ahead as the weather has not conformed to the long range forecast. There are still active weather fronts on the north east coast and consequently spurn has seen 4,000+ meadow pipits through plus good numbers of common migrants. Our autumn Meadow Pipits come from Iceland so with no known sightings from Scotland we can't tell when these birds arrived and how they reached Spurn but it would be nice to know. My guess is that the low on 11th September created to good opportunity. They would have hit somewhere in western scotland and quite possibly the hebrides. Some good birds in today with Greater Sandplover Ythan Estuary, Aberdeenshire, Lanceolated Warbler Sumburgh Head, Shetland, Great Snipe Quendale, Shetland and Yellow-breasted Bunting at Aith, Fetlar. As you can see from the graphic, anywhere on the east coast has potential today.

The 10th and 11th September has seen an influx of Curlew Sandpipers albeit a small one. 1 on 10th and then 2 on 11th at Severn Beach, Avon. Steart Point, Somerset recorded 4 on 11th. Dawlish Warren recorded 2 on 9th and 10th plus 3 on 11th. One at Broomhill flash, south yorkshire on 11th. Today (12th) sightings have been in aberdeenshire, denbighshire and lothian. Interestingly sightings started off in the south and then on both sides of the country further north later on. Most sightings included juveniles so could these be victims of the recent winds as they have tracked south around the north sea and out the english channel? I've linked the curlew sandpiper sightings to give a better visual indication. Curlew sandpiper sightings.

A high from the south-west approaches extending north and a high over norway extending south will see a rise in barometric pressure over britan to 1022mb by the weekend. This is likely to equate to a pretty quiet time for birders. Conditions should be good for nocturnal activity but the only way to get some of these are from being out at dawn. fortunately dawn isn't at 3:30am at the moment. Locally, the migrant numbers at sand point were down on yesterday with nothing blown in overnight on the strong southerlies. Just recieved an email to say that numbers of wheatear had increased to 23 on sand point after I left. Quite normal for this species as I have recorded a build up of numbers throughout the morning on many occasions. This evening on Crook Peak in Somerset I recorded 7 wheatears.

Didn't study the charts this morning and noticed that Portland has had Melodious Warbler and Woodchat Shrike today. Looking at the charts I can see why as the front has come in across the English Channel. The current gusty winds have signified the latest advancing weather front and continuing tomorrow there could be more still to come. Locally, with clear periods during the night and a moderate South-westerly wind plenty of house martins and swallows around plus 6 wheatears at Sand Point. The rain from the current front is set to come in overnight.

I can't see any movements from overseas for the next couple of days and the lows looks set to sweep north through britain and connect with Iceland so no repeat of the weekend is on the cards. Today my patch at the River Axe held a Black Tern and good numbers of Swallows, Sand Martins and House Martins. Regrettably full time employment has hindered a thorough search so who knows what else has been and gone today. It is clear that lows moving through the country can stimulate a wealth of internal movements so all is not lost. Perhaps others can also benefit for the north-easts windfall.

As the current low pressure moves north west through Britain and crosses the north sea a gateway is opened that could see some new arrivals in scotland particularly the north east of scotland and the shetlands on the weekend of 6th and 7th September. The potential fall looks set to hit tomorrow. I will be keeping an eye on developements and edit this post with the results.....
Well nearly right. The fall did occur but in the north-east of england. Species recorded included a Red-throated Pipit at Tynemouth, Northumberland, Bluethroat, Ortolan Bunting, Red-breasted Flycatcher, Icterine Warbler and Barred Warbler, along with good numbers of Wrynecks. The link to the pressure chart for midnight 6th September (© Crown copyright 2008, Met Office) shows perfectly just why the falls hit the north east of england. The birds continued to turn up into sunday with Great Snipe South Gare, Cleveland, Greenish Warbler Bamburgh, Northumberland and Subalpine Warbler South Shields, Co Durham. Falls of common migrants along the north east coast included Redstarts, Pied Flycatchers, Whinchats and Wheatears.