A long weekend to remember
28 Aug 2013
Last weekend will live long in the memory of anyone who managed to do some birding along Britain's east coast. Stable high pressure had been developing over Scandinavia from about 22 August and a light northeasterly wind began to drift migrants that would otherwise have traversed continental Europe across to our side of the North Sea. As thousands of Willow Warblers, Redstarts and Pied Flycatchers – along with scarcer species like Red-backed Shrike and Icterine Warbler – reached the east coast over the weekend, they were met with rain and/or low cloud, particularly on Saturday morning. These conditions forced the birds to make landfall, resulting in some sharp spikes in BirdTrack reporting rates (see graphs, right) and incredible counts of grounded migrants at coastal watchpoints. Spurn Bird Observatory, for example, logged a record-breaking 27 Wryneck on Sunday 25 August – a perfect precursor to Britain's first Migration Festival that is being hosted there 6–8 September!
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