Nightingale
A lovely, sunny, warm day with light westerly winds; the days highlight came mid-afternoon when the Black Stork which had been tracked heading south over various sites in Suffolk north of us, somehow snuck past Felixstowe and past the far side of the port without us seeing it, was picked up circling on the far side of the river over Harwich/Shotley from where it gained height and seemed to drift away, along the Stour and into Essex. Rubbish views for us and [more than slightly] out of the Obs recording area but an impressive bird even at that range!
Totals heading south through the morning actually in the recording area comprised 3 Dunlin, 4 Grey Plover, 8 Oystercatchers, a Ringed Plover, a Marsh Harrier, a Yellow Wagtail, 240 Swallows, 27 Sand Martins and a House Martin.
Grounded migrants were thin on the ground in the fine weather but did include another Nightingale, the first Garden Warbler of the autumn, 3 Willow Warblers, the first Whinchat of the autumn and 3 Wheatears.
Ringing: Garden Warbler 1, Whitethroat 1, Willow Warbler 2, Nightingale 1, Robin 1, Starling 38, Linnet 1
The Gem is an immigrant noted annually in recent years but usually later in the autumn