THE GREAT F A L L OF MIGRANTS—A SPECIAL REPORT by H . E . AXELL a n d D . J . PEARSON
THE largest landfall of migrant birds ever recorded in this country occurred along the northern half of the Suffolk coast in the afternoon of 3rd September, 1965. It was remarkable not only for quantity but also because so great a variety of birds, seventy-eight species, was involved. The bulk were night-migrant passerines which are usual at that time of year but numbers of ducks, waders, terns, and finches also occurred. By far the most concentrated arrivals were seen between Sizewell and Hopton, with very few indeed to the south of this twenty-four mile coastline. Much less spectacular numbers arrived in Norfolk and representative species were seen on parts of eastern Britain as far north as Shetland. The movement was part of the peak departure of some millions of birds which had begun their migration from north-west Europe in fine, anticyclonic weather in the previous night and had become halted and concentrated on the north side of a depression moving north-west from Italy to the southern North Sea. Having lost their orientation under thick overcast and heavy rain, a large proportion of the massed migrants was moved towards Britain in the easterly airflow. A similar deployment of weather systems occurred on lst/2nd September, 1956, when the last fall of any size of disoriented migrants was seen on the Suffolk coast. T i m e s (BST) and Densities of Arrival The low pressure to the south-east had brought a dry overcast on a light north-north-east wind during the latter half of the night of 2nd/3rd September and those conditions had deflected only a few migrants to the Suffolk coast by early morning. At first light on 3rd, in the Minsmere sluice area there were ten wheatears*, smaller numbers of other chats, pied flycatchers and warblers and no noteworthy arrival was reported in the early morning from other parts of the coast that were later to be affected by the great rush. The approaching depression brought a thunderstorm at 7.30 a.m. and at 1.15 p.m. with the wind quickly freshening from the southeast and rain now heavy and continuous, the first of the avalanche of birds arrived in the Minsmere area. As the depression moved steadily northwards up the southern North Sea, so the coast began to experience the on-shore wind and the birds that came with it, the northernmost part of the Suffolk coast being affected a little more than an hour later than the onset of the rush at Minsmere. Two nights later, 5th/6th, the northward moving depression brought a change of wind and a record concentration of birds to Heligoland Light. The Netherlands coast also experienced a heavy landfall. The arrival of birds in the afternoon of 3rd was well covered by observers : • F o r scientific names, see Systematic List.