Any day with a
Rosy Starling still in residence and two more seemingly passing straight through (the stayer was at the Bill whilst the fly-bys were at the Bill and Weston) as well as a
Hawfinch pitching up briefly at the Obs certainly can't be moaned about, but there was a slight feeling of disappointment that the brisker easterly, overcast skies and rain showers either side of dawn didn't come up with something just that little bit better. Tardy migrants were maybe not quite as numerous as might have been hoped, with 6 each of
Chiffchaff and
Spotted Flycatcher, and singles of
Wheatear,
Whinchat and
Blackcap downed at the Bill, where 13
Dunlin and a
Hobby passed through overhead amongst the light passage of
hirundines and
Swifts. A
Great Northern Diver passed by on the sea at the Bill.
A small increase in immigrant moth numbers saw 44
Diamond-back Moth, 2
Silver Y and 1
Rusty-dot Pearl trapped overnight at the Obs; an
Elusive Fanner Acrolepiopsis marcidella - a new moth for Portland - was as trapped there.
On the face of it, Elusive Fanner seems like a pretty unlikely addition to the island list: it's of very restricted range in the UK and in Dorset is confined to just a few sites in the southeast of the county; the foodplant - Butcher's-broom - evidently doesn't occur on Portland so last night's specimen is as good as certain to be a wind-blown stray or perhaps even an immigrant from the Continent © Martin Cade:
