4th August

With clear cloudless skies the morning didn't offer too much promise and it was fairly quiet early on. Things picked up as we walked the clifftop and flushed the first Short-eared Owl of the autumn. A Wheatear appeared on the clifftop and a Whinchat was found in the Freedown. Both these birds were seen later at the Monument. Two Grasshopper Warblers were found in the rough along the golf course. Other warblers included six Reed, 11 Willow, one Chiffchaff, four Lesser Whitethroats, five Blackcaps and 20 Whitethroats. A very early Firecrest was seen at Hope Bay Studios. It was a very tatty adult and may have been a local breeding birds. Very little noted overhead apart from a single Siskin.

(Brendan and Phil)