29th May

A sunny start proved not to be at all representative of the day as a whole, with fog and occasional rain quickly setting in before a brisk westerly blew up towards dusk. The only worthwhile reports were of a Reed Warbler and a Chiffchaff at the Bill, another Reed Warbler at Portland Castle, 17 Dunlin and a Sanderling at Ferrybridge and 11 Manx Shearwaters, 5 Common Scoter and a Pomarine Skua through off the Bill.

Immigrant moth numbers continued to tick along at a lowish level, with 43 Diamond-back Moth, 7 Small Mottled Willow, 5 Rush Veneer, 4 each of Rusty-dot Pearl and Silver Y, and singles of Hummingbird Hawkmoth and Dark Sword Grass trapped overnight at the Obs.

How often is it that Reed Warblers take on the guise of something much more interesting when they're lurking high up in trees?...


...fortunately this one had been heard singing before it had even been seen © Martin Cade:


And a bit more catching up now that the birds have gone quieter. This colour-ringed Dunlin was at Ferrybridge at the beginning of the month © Joe Stockwell:


...Joe's subsequently been informed that the bird was first ringed as a first-winter in Galicia, northwest Spain, in October 2013; it was resighted in the same area throughout the 2013-14 winter but in November 2014 was spotted again at the Banc d'Arguin in Mauritania (...do Dunlin routinely change their wintering areas or is this some sort of age-related feature?). The Ferrybridge sighting - when it was presumably stopping briefly on northbound migration - has been the only subsequent record of it. 

Ken Dolbear photographed this Small Barred Long-horn Adela croesella last week at Bottomcombe © Ken Dolbear:


...as far as we're aware this is only the second record for the island although, in common with other early season day-flyers, we suspect it's likely to have been overlooked by the regular 'birders who also look at bugs' who are too preoccupied with their birding during April and May.