On the afternoon of the 16th dad did a seawatch off Holme. From 15:00-17:00hrs he recorded 2 Pomarine Skuas (including one with full tail spoons), 29 Great Skuas, 5 Arctic Skuas, 5 Little Gulls, 40 Kittiwakes, 3 Arctic Terns and 1 Fulmar.
Today we seawatched together with some other regulars from 07:15-10:45hrs. Totals were as follows: 3 Pomarine Skuas west, 25 Great Skuas (24 west, 1 east), 43 Kittiwakes (24 west, 19 east), 6 Little Gulls (4 west, 2 east), 24 Red-breasted Mergansers (3 west, 21 east), 1 Velvet Scoter east, 24 Razorbills, 4 Arctic Skuas west, 300 Gannets, 6 Red-throated Divers (3 west, 3 east), 2 Manx Shearwaters west, 2 shearwater sps. west, 1 summer-plumaged Great-northern Diver east, 3 Goldeneye west, 3 skua sps. west, 4 auk sps. west, 2 Pintail west, 3 Great-crested Grebes, 2 Sandwich Terns, 4 Shelduck, 80 Brent Geese, 100 Common Scoters, 8 Wigeon and 2 Eider east. The Great-northern Diver in particular was a cracker, flying east through the surf just offshore and being in stunning full summer plumage.
After this solid start the day continued to improve! First of all I located a Firecrest in with a mixed tit flock on the NOA reserve which briefly showed well. Chris Mills then found a well-marked Yellow-browed Warbler in the corner of the NWT carpark which eventually showed well despite being generally very elusive, partly because it was calling frequently, meaning it was possible to pin it down. While standing in the carpark chatting to Chris and Simeon a flock of Starlings moved through. Loosely associating with these was a small bird, roughly following the broadwater, which we initially took as a wader before it became apparant it was a Little Auk! Thankfully it doubled back and circled over the carpark (!) before carrying on west, giving the most incredible views to those lucky enough to be in the carpark - a great bonus! Visible migration was solid throughout the morning and I logged 6 Bramblings west then in the pines, 3 Siskins west, 1 Yellowhammer west, 20 Skylarks west, 65 Meadow Pipits west, 200+ Greenfinches, 35 Goldfinches, 20 Chaffinches and 9000+ Starlings west. Other grounded bits and pieces included 25 Blackbirds, 1 Redwing, 1 Song Thrush and 1 Cetti's Warbler.
By early afternoon it had become quiet so we headed round to West Runton. Here good flight views were obtained of the SHORT-TOED LARK. We were actually very lucky as fairly quickly we managed to pin down the bird on the deck and obtained good views of it running across a couple of furrows and feeding. Another British tick! An adult Mediterranean Gull was floating around the fields as well. Muckleburgh Hill produced very little, with just 2 Chiffchaffs, 2 Song Thrushes, 3 Jays and 2 Goldcrests, as did a seawatch at Cley NWT, with just 3 Red-throated Divers and 10 Gannets.
