Lutley Wedge 15/08/10 7.40am (15°c) Grey and overcast with low cloud first thing, scattered cloud and sun later a.m NNE 2

With high presssure in place, a light NNE wind, and a grey overcast sky with low cloud first thing this morning, conditions were ideal for dropping in some migrants. The first 2 Wheatears of the autumn were seen, with 1 (female/1s) literally dropping out of the sky  at 07.50am to perch on a powerline directly above where i was stood! Another 1 (juv) Wheatear was in the horse paddocks along the top footpath. Both birds seem to have moved on quickly when the low cloud was replaced by better conditions with broken cloud and sun later in the morning. Also a suprising number of late Swifts were on the move.

2 Wheatears

11 Common Whitethroat

4 Chiffchaff

2 Blackcap

69 Swift (including 36 over Foxcote)

30+ House Martin

20 Swallow

1 'alba' Wagtail >S

'Eye to eye' with a Wheatear Lutley Wedge 15/8/10 

Wheatear Lutley Wedge 15/8/10

Swift Lutley Wedge 15/8/10

Sun and low cloud this morning Lutley Wedge 15/8/10

A look at the current pressure charts and satellite shows the ideal fall conditions that brought todays Wheatear at Lutley and have brought the first fall of 'drift migrants' this autumn to the east coast of the U.K.

With high pressure extending over the UK northeast into Scandinavia, and a low pressure system over Germany,  a feed of NE winds off the North Sea brought cloud spilling into the UK off the North Sea overnight.  Skies were initially mostly clear in the UK overnight under the influence of the high pressure, providing ideal conditions for birds to migrate, but were replaced by cloudy skies from the low pressure system over Germany and Holland which grounded overflying birds early this morning.

Satellite image showing clearing skies overnight under high pressure 14-15/8/10

Cloud moving in from the North Sea a.m 15/8/10