400 now passed..........

First off, a belated record of a BLACKPOLL WARBLER from 2010 (trapped and ringed at Icklesham, East Sussex, in October) pushes that year's annual total to 439 species - the second highest total of all time.

Back to this year, since my last update in early August, a further 15 species have been recorded in Britain and Ireland, making the annual tally of species now 403.....

The additions are as follows -:

1) BLACK-BROWED ALBATROSS (an adult flew past Spurn, East Yorks in August)

2) FEA'S SOFT-PLUMAGED PETREL (a recent batch of typical records from SW and W Ireland and a few from the UK coast)

3) YELKOUAN SHEARWATER (several Minorcan-type individuals noted off Cornwall and another in the North Sea past Cley Coastguards)

4) RUDDY SHELDUCK (post-breeding minor influx from the Continent, probably Dutch birds)

5) BAIRD'S SANDPIPER (several noted including some early juveniles)

6) SHARP-TAILED SANDPIPER (two stunning adults in Ireland in Counties Clare and Wexford)

7) WILSON'S PHALAROPE (3 recorded in August)

8) NORTH AMERICAN BLACK TERN (brief bird in Ireland)

9) AQUATIC WARBLER (typical batch of August records from the South Coast)

10) PADDYFIELD WARBLER (an early adult trapped in Dorset)

11) EASTERN OLIVACEOUS WARBLER (one trapped and ringed on Fair Isle)

12) BOOTED WARBLER (two early arrivals on Shetland)

13) Barred Warbler (usual arrival of juveniles in August)

14) ARCTIC WARBLER (a few seen so far on Shetland)

15) TWO-BARRED CROSSBLL (small arrival associated with large southerly movement in Scandinavia including juvenile birds at Spurn Point in both July and August)