I wasn't phased by the heavy rain at first light thinking that it was ideal conditions for the birds but in reality there were no birds moving in the precipitation. The Down was quiet with only a handful of migrants in the bushes. By mid-morning I decided enough was enough and made my way back to the car. I made one last scan across the fields before packing my stuff in the car and noticed a few Swallows heading north-east towards the Axe Estuary. The total quickly reached 260. I wondered if the birds had been moving all the time but cutting off Brean altogether but once the rain started the passage dried up. I walked to Brean Cove and counted 15 Wheatear so decided to hang around for a bit longer as it seemed there were indeed birds about to turn up. Once the rain cleared the Swallow passage started again this time very intensely. A bit later on they started moving in two directions; north-east and north-west across the beach and out to sea over Brean Down where at one stage I counted 600 in the air in one sweep of the bins. Tree Pipits, Yellow Wagtails and Goldfinches were also moving as were House Martins and Sand Martins with the Swallows although Swifts were in short supply. Totals for Brean Down this morning: 6,500 Swallow, 8 Tree Pipit, 14 flava wagtail, 1 Arctic Skua, 3 Common Scoter, 450 House Martin, 105 Sand Martin, 60 Swift, 6 Tufted Duck south past fort, 17 Wheatear, 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 39 Black-headed Gull in Weston Bay, 1 Bar-tailed Godwit south past fort, 4 Whimbrel, 3 Siskin, 11 Linnet, 136 Goldfinch, 7 Gannet, 17 Ringed Plover and 94 Dunlin on Brean beach.
A warm front had been moving northwards through the night from Central Europe bringing overnight and early morning rain that eventually cleared by mid-morning.
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