6th November

In the light of a forecast of stiff southerlies ahead of an Atlantic weather front there'd been high hopes for the sea which looked to have come to nothing through the morning when there was precious little on the move; however, things perked up through the afternoon and by dusk some pretty decent totals had been accrued at the Bill in particular. As so often at this time of year it was Kittiwakes that were in the vanguard and no sooner had the first of the c1000 that were eventually logged got moving than the skuas appeared in their wake, with final totals of 32 Pomarines, 9 Arctics and 7 Greats making the list; the back up cast included 51 Common Scoter, 13 Teal, 11 Wigeon, 8 Little Gulls, 6 Dunlin, 4 Manx Shearwaters, 4 Balearic Shearwaters, 2 Fulmars, 2 Sanderling and singles of Black-throated Diver, Great Northern Diver, Pintail, Shoveler and Velvet Scoter. Chesil Cove chipped in with 5 Little Gulls, 2 Tufted Ducks and singles of Black-throated Diver, Great Northern Diver, Mallard and Pintail, with an additional 6 Mallard and a Pintail over at Ferrybridge. For the most part the land was too blown out to be worth spending time on, but a Yellow-browed Warbler that showed up at Avalanche Road was perhaps yesterday's individual from the nearby Weston Craft Centre, whilst 5 Black Redstarts at Portland Castle and 2 Fieldfares and singles of Golden Plover and Wheatear at the Bill were all of note.

A handful of immigrant moths continue to linger on at the Obs, with 5 Rusty-dot Pearl and singles of Diamond-back Moth, Rush Veneer and Dark Sword Grass caught overnight.








Kittiwakes, Pomarine Skuas, Teal & Wigeon, Pintail, Common Scoter and Velvet Scoter - Portland Bill, 6th November 2014 © Martin Cade (Kittiwakes, Teal & Wigeon and Common Scoter), Keith Pritchard (Pomarine Skuas and Velvet Scoter) and Pete Saunders (Pintail)