Just back from a week spent on the Isle of May, staying at the Bird Observatory. August can be a special time to be on the island however the hoped-for fall of migrants did not happen. The nagging west/south west wind put paid to that.  Out of the wind we enjoyed the long spells of sunshine. That said, there was plenty to enjoy from the still breeding Fulmars, the burgeoning Rabbit population, and the building numbers of seals preparing to pup and then start the next generation.
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Some small birds were passing through. As expected, the most numerous species was Willow Warbler with youngsters dominating the count. Here is one making that extraordinary journey to Africa for the first time.

It has been a while since we visited the East coast. The reason for this is that for the best part of the last six weeks the wind has been from the East. The result is that when the weather has not been poor light, a very cold wind has persisted. Today we visited and were not disappointed; that said it was slightly chilly.
We had hoped to encounter some Auks and Terns which would be firsts for the year. In the event, we only saw distant flocks of Razorbill, with the odd Guillemot mixed in. With the terns we did better. A few Sandwich Terns flew calling my name (Some wag in the past suggested they say Errric!). However, the day was made by one Arctic Tern.
I shuffled up to a reasonable distance taking pictures. It was clearly at ease since it was frequently wing stretch horizontally. Once it did the vertical stretch and I was hooked. It took a further half an hour before I got the picture (opposite). You need to leave a lot of picture space for those wings.
Recent storms had deposited a huge amount of kelp on the beach so it was no surprise to find waders enjoying the feast of sandhoppers and other goodies. Particularly noted was a flock of Turnstone in various states of plumage enjoying the banquet. 

Spring is really here although, as soon as that is said, there's usually a sting in the tail. However it is fairly warm and sunny for the time being.

Many wintering birds are feeding up ready for migration. Waders, at the coast and estuaries are frantically feeding before making a journey - some short, some long. Amongst them are Black-tailed Godwits (picture). Some of them develop their breeding finery before they set off. Its always been an aim of mine to properly catch one in that stage. Finally, with the big tides of last week I managed. The supporting cast included Curlew, Redshank, Knot and the diminutive Dunlin.