29th September

In more very pleasant birding conditions the day's scarcer migrants proved to be very difficult to catch up with, to the extent that the only one that made landfall - a Yellow-browed Warbler at the Obs - was only heard calling, whilst the others at the Bill - 2 Woodlarks, a Mistle Thrush and a Lapland Bunting - were all fly-overs. Predictably visible in the oddity line were both the Hooded Crow at the Grove and the Black Guillemot in Portland Harbour, whilst interest in the long-staying Lesser Whitethroat at the Obs Quarry that is thought to show features of blythi increased once it appeared to be established from part of its ring number read from photographs that it hadn't been ringed at the Obs and so wasn't necessarily a locally-bred bird. Routine migration continued in a rather similar vein to recent days, with Meadow Pipits and hirundines dominating overhead and Robins, Wheatears, Blackcaps, Chiffchaffs, Goldcrests and Linnets making up the bulk of the numbers on the ground, where there was an overall increase on yesterday; Song Thrushes were again a feature, particularly right at dawn, whilst less frequent migrants included a Hobby at Barleycrates Lane and a Merlin at the Bill.

There was a very modest increase in immigrant moth numbers, with 18 Rusty-dot Pearl, a Rush Veneer and a Delicate at the Obs, whilst another Vagrant Twitcher Tebenna micalis was the best of the catch at Sweethill.