A continuation of yesterday on the migrant front, with a decent drop of birds everywhere. In a season that's been almost unprecedentedly slow to get going it's probably still a wee bit early for the falls to be very varied, but this was more than made up for with the numbers of Willow Warblers: 400 was probably a conservative estimate for the Bill and there were plenty more in all the suitable spots that were visited. Further totals from the Bill/Southwell included 35 Wheatears, 30 Spotted Flycatchers, 25 Sedge Warblers, 15 Robins, 4 Garden Warblers, 3 each of Dunlin and Tree Pipit, 2 Pied Flycatchers and singles of Golden Plover, Curlew, Lesser Whitethroat, with additional variety elsewhere coming in the form of a Little Ringed Plover over the centre of the island and singles of Black-tailed Godwit and Yellow-legged Gull at Ferrybridge. The sea was poorly covered but 17 Oystercatchers, 16 Black-headed Gulls and singles of Balearic Shearwater and Yellow-legged Gull were of note off the Bill.
Immigrant moth interest was varied rather than spectacular, with the best of the oddities being a Barred Red and an Olive-tree Pearl at the Obs, a Vagrant Piercer Cydia amplana and a Gem at Sweethill and a Scalloped Hook-tip at St Peter's Church.
Spotted Flycatcher, Willow Warbler, Sand Martin, Black-tailed Godwit and Yellow-legged Gull - Portland Bill, Southwell and Ferrybridge, 12th August 2015 © Mike Trew (Spot Fly and Willow Warbler), Nick Stantiford (Sand Martin), Pete Saunders (Black-tailed Godwit) and Debby Saunders (Yellow-legged Gull)
And to end this post a bit of Obs garden soundscape from this afternoon when it seemed like wherever we went we were surrounded by Willow Warblers:
