Mid-September to mid-October is peak autumn migration time;
this is the period when most birds are on the move, both in and out of the
country. It has been estimated that at this time as many as 50 million birds
could be on the move.
Meadow Pipit BirdTrack reporting rate
Right now Meadow
Pipits and White Wagtails should
be moving in force. However, the weather forecast for the next week doesn’t
look very conducive to a large movement of any of these birds. We have largely
been in westerly airflow for over a week now and it has turned up a few North
American birds, White-throated Sparrow
on Foula, Shetland, being amongst the highlights. It is difficult to see if
this will continue over the next week, Hurricanes Florence, Joyce and Helene
are really stirring up the weather in the Atlantic. It does look like the
northern half of the country will remain in westerly airflow for longer than
the southern half, with air being drawn out of the Labrador Sea bringing the possibility
of a few more North American waders, Wilson’s
Phalarope and Short-billed Dowitcher
could be on the cards.
Whinchat by Mike Weston
In amongst this dynamic weather there will be high-pressure
to the south for a little while resulting in fairly calm conditions over the
channel, this will allow departing birds to get a move on and we could see hirundines make their last big movement
of the year over the weekend, along with a few Yellow Wagtails and
Whinchats.
Yellow-browed Warbler by Andy Mason
Even though we have already recorded our first Yellow-browed Warblers (they seem to be
getting earlier and earlier) birds wanting to cross the North Sea from the north
will have to wait a little longer, and it might be another week or more before
we start to see arrivals of Redwings and
Chaffinches and movements of Linnets and Redpolls.
Leach's Petrel BirdTrack reporting rate
It looks like the western half of the country will be the
place to be. Sabine’s Gulls, Grey
Phalaropes and Leach’s Petrels
might all put in a performance, along with a few skuas and divers.