31st August

Overcast with a gentle south-easterly breeze, the day started like all of the most promising autumnal days. It was a day of variety as proved by the netting totals that reached 97 birds of 19 species, the highlights of which were singles of Grasshopper Warbler, Reed Warbler and Pied Flycatcher. The rest of the tally was made of common (but no less appreciated) migrants, including a continuation of yesterday's Spotted Flycatcher and Robin passage. Despite the favorable conditions, over-head passage was somewhat disappointing with Yellow Wagtails the only species in real numbers, including at least 85 over the Bill; Tree Pipits, Grey Wagtails and House Martins remained in single figures whilst a single Merlin - the first of the season - was the only raptor of note. Two Arctic Skuas through off the Bill provided the only sea interest.

The propitious conditions tempted Nick Hopper into another deployment of his nocmig kit and he was rewarded with an Ortolan Bunting over the Obs; it was otherwise a rather quiet night with the totals consisting of:

Tree Pipit 64 calls
Yellow Wagtail 7 calls
Spotted Flycatcher 4
Robin 2
Green Sandpiper
Common Sandpiper 3
Redshank
Curlew
Dunlin


The highlight from the moth-traps just lately has been this Rosy Underwing last night from Debby Saunders' garden at Sweethill. The only previous Portland record was in 1993 when one was netted after being spotted flying in daylight in the Obs garden; that individual was only the sixth for Britain and the first in the modern era; subsequently, the national total has advanced to around 20, with a cluster of half of these having come from the Purbeck coast suggesting the species might perhaps be colonising that area (it's a pretty common moth just across the Channel in Normandy) © Debby Saunders:

30th August

A definite autumnal chill to the morning as the biting northerly rustled the rapidly browning and vanishing leaves of the 'Brambling Tree'. This feeling was confirmed as the day warmed slowly with Spotted Flycatchers emerging steadily throughout the garden. The autumnal bonanza unfurled before our eyes as the early morning passage of Tree Pipits and Yellow Wagtails were replaced by Redstarts, Blackcaps and Sedge Warblers. After the wind dropped to a gentle breeze the Spotted Flycatchers revealed themselves in force with the Obs tally topping 20 birds, and the gentle 'clicking' call being the dominant sound around the garden pond. A noticeable increase in Robin numbers indicated the beginning of their often overlooked passage, and a Reed Warbler trapped in the canopy net indicated the birds intentions of moving not loitering. Away from the nets, good numbers of Whitethroats were noted across the Bill, as well as 75 Wheatears and three Whinchats in the Strips. Ferrybridge continued its recent form with seven Curlew, 16 Sanderling and a lone Knot along with a trickle of wagtails and Wheatears. The only sea reports were of a lone Great Skua through off the Bill and, rather unusually, a Teal settled close off East Cliffs.

It's an oft asked question: why did they dream up calling this a Spotted Flycatcher? © Martin Cade:


This weekend saw a really big influx of 'Cabbage Whites' at the Bill, with the Red Valerian and Buddleias at the Obs absolutely plastered with them. They're one of those things that you so take for granted that, until we started trying to work out why some of the Small Whites weren't Southern Small White - well, you've got to be optimistic - we don't think we'd ever fully grasped the perfectly obvious difference between the sexes in both Large and Small White © Martin Cade:


29th August

A distinctly autumnal feel to the cool morning gave more hope than results, with just a smattering of grounded migrants throughout the day. Tree Pipit and Yellow Wagtail numbers remained much the same as yesterday but a small influx of Willow Warblers, Wheatears and House Martins made up the numbers. Highlights in the field included a fly-over Hobby, two Spotted and single Pied Flycatcher. The sea was reasonably quiet again with just singles of Arctic Skua and Bonxie with a supporting cast of ten Manx Shearwaters. A little influx of waders at Ferrybridge saw Sanderling, Knot and Turnstone numbers fall just short of 20 apiece, as well as two Little Terns, 15 Wheatears and five Yellow Wagtails.

The Dexter Cattle have become a firm favorite with the passing Yellow Wagtails © Pete Saunders:



Some of this morning's Ferrybridge selection © Pete Saunders


28th August

A little known weather phenomenon that means Portland experiences far less rain than the mainland saw many of the downpours heading our way disappear on the radar before our very eyes. This did not, however, help us on the birding front; with the bands of rain very likely blocking many migrants from moving this way. The excellent passage of pipits and wagtails from yesterday was sadly reduced to a trickle of just nine Tree Pipits, two Grey and 17 Yellow Wagtails, although as a bonus a Honey Buzzard somehow dodged the weather and was watched heading north over the centre of the island. Grounded migrants were few and far between with the gusting breeze making them even harder to detect: in the limited range of nets we were able to open singles of Reed and Willow Warbler were the only passage migrants trapped. The sea was equally disappointing with 11 Balearic Shearwaters and a two Arctic Skuas the only birds of note. Elsewhere on the island, Ferrybridge was busy once more with the returning Little Stint, two Knot and a single Little Tern amongst the usual fare.

Has there been a more difficult species to catch up with this year than Honey Buzzard? Today's bird was yet another that passed through in circumstances that would have suggested any number of other observers should have got on to it but somehow none did! © Martin Adlam Port and Wey



27th August

Any thoughts that the relative dearth of migrants by day reflects a lack of passage in our part of the world are often refuted by evidence from nocmig recordings and today proved another case in point: despite seemingly promising-looking conditions, dawn saw a notably underwhelming fall of grounded migrants at the Bill but later cursory scrutiny of the nocturnal recording at the Obs revealed an almost night-long passage of Tree Pipits in particular that petered out only as daylight approached. A little overhead passage was still evident early in the morning, with 82 Yellow Wagtails, 57 Tree Pipits and a miscellany of other ones and twos including a passing Osprey logged at the Bill but these numbers paled into insignificance compared with the minimum of 746 Tree Pipit calls tallied overnight; grounded totals were very insignificant, with little more than 40 Willow Warblers, 4 Blackcaps, 2 Pied Flycatchers and a Garden Warbler at the Bill. Waders continued to be better represented, with 244 Ringed Plover, 138 Dunlin, 32 Turnstones, 27 Sanderling, 3 Whimbrel, 2 Knot, 2 Common Sandpipers and singles of both Black and Bar-tailed Godwits at Ferrybridge joined by the first 2 Little Stints of the autumn. The sea was as hard work as the land, with a lot of watching at the Bill producing no more than 32 Manx and 11 Balearic Shearwaters, and 3 Arctic Skuas.

Little Stint's due a good autumn so hopefully these first two of the season will prove to be just the vanguard © Debby Saunders:


Perhaps two Ospreys before we've even seen the back of August will also prove a sign of things to come © Simon Colenutt The Deskbound Birder:


26th August

With Storm Francis slipping away into the North Sea but still the major influence on conditions, today's bright and blustery westerlies didn't promise much on sea or land and it was a moment of unexpected migrant magic that saved the day: out of nowhere a Dotterel made the briefest of fly-bys straight over the Obs patio - not a big deal historically as this would once have been just the time when Dotterel were an almost expected annual visitor to the Bill during the first three decades of Obs fieldwork but their rarity value has increased exponentially over the last thirty years. Migration happenings on the land were otherwise only a notch above the lowest order: Lesser Black-backed Gulls trailing away to balmier winter quarters at least proved some numbers - 250 left from the Bill during the first few hours of the morning - but 2 Pied Flycatchers were as good as it got amongst the thinnest of spreads of grounded migrants there. Scant rewards from the sea included singles of Great Crested Grebe, Storm Petrel and Arctic Tern through off the Bill. Ferrybridge was still impressively busy: both Ringed Plover and Dunlin reached totals well in excess of 200, whilst 3 Little Terns (one evidently a colour-ringed juvenile from Ireland) and a Little Gull were bonuses.

This morning's Little Gull at Ferrybridge © Pete Saunders:



Wheatear and Small Copper at the Bill © Roy Norris:


25th August

Storm Francis delivered the goods and more on a day of early rain followed by seemingly ever strengthening winds when the sea was worth watching throughout. The chief prizes were at least 3 Great Shearwaters through off Chesil Cove (one of which also passed the Bill) but as a spectacle the day's wader numbers took some beating: Ferrybridge was awash with an ever-changing carpet of waders that included peak counts of 530 Dunlin, 200 Ringed Plovers, 26 Sanderling, 7 Whimbrel, 6 Knot and a Ruff, whilst what were surely unprecedented autumn totals of passing waders at Chesil Cove included 294 Dunlin, 35 Ringed Plovers, 14 Sanderling, 11 Whimbrel, 6 Turnstone and a Snipe. In many ways the rest of the day's events were an anticlimax with, Gannets and Fulmars aside, little on the move in quantity: the Storm Petrel tally at Chesil Cove likely reached double figures  - with a Leach's also reported, shearwaters included 2 Balearics off the Bill, 6 Great and 2 Arctic Skuas passed the Bill, a Little Gull was at Chesil Cove and terns included 12 Arctics at Ferrybridge.

Once an almost mythical rarity at Portland, Great Shearwaters are now almost to be expected during freakish conditions in late summer © Joe Stockwell:


Ruff and Whimbrel amongst the multitude of waders at Ferrybridge © Pete Saunders:



24th August

Just a little more to report today with a small flurry of new arrivals on the ground once some early showers passed through. Numbers were far from impressive but after a few lean days were certainly welcome, with 30 Wheatears, 20 Willow Warblers, 6 Pied Flycatchers, 5 Tree Pipits, 3 Whimbrel, 2 Ringed Plover, 2 Spotted Flycatchers, a Dunlin and a Whinchat logged at the Bill. Waders continued to feature in some quantity at Ferrybridge, where 8 Sanderling and singles of Knot and Redshank were mingled in with the 150 Ringed Plover and 90 Dunlin; a single Yellow-legged Gull was also new there. The sea was very much the poor relation, with a continuing south-bound trickle of Lesser Black-backed Gulls about as good as it got at the Bill.

23rd August

Migration's pretty well ground to a halt on the land (the only migrants handled at the Obs today were recaptures that have lingering for several days) and a veering of the wind into the northwest all but halted sea passage. Lesser Black-backed Gulls were still trickling out to the south from the Bill - over 100 were logged during several random seawatches - but 8 Manx and 2 Balearic Shearwaters were the only seabirds of note there. The handful of grounded migrants at the Bill included 18 Wheatears, 7 Yellow Wagtails and singles of Tree Pipit, Pied Flycatcher and Spotted Flycatcher, whilst 3 lingering Knot were the only waders of particular note at Ferrybridge.

The dearth of birds did at least give us a few minutes to finally get some 'out of a pot' photos of yesterday's Slender Burnished Brass © Martin Cade:


22nd August

The influence of the depression that brought yesterday's stormy conditions continued to be felt and it remained windy all day, albeit with the direction having edged towards the west. Long-tailed Skuas continued to feature, with one off Chesil Cove during the morning and reports suggesting others passed during the afternoon. Quality was not otherwise a feature on the sea, with 3 Arctic Skuas and a Balearic Shearwater through at the Cove and 6 Balearic Shearwaters and an Arctic Skua off the Bill; Lesser Black-backed Gulls were the only birds in numbers, with more than 120 leaving to the south from the Bill. The Grey Phalarope lingered on through the morning at least at Ferrybridge, where 3 Knot were the only slight oddities amongst the more routine waders that also included a fair total of 180 Ringed Plover. Passage looked to have ground to a halt on the land, with a lingering Pied Flycatcher the pick of what little was on offer at the Bill.

The Grey Phalarope wasn't so settled today © Pete Saunders:


On a pretty wild night we had no hopes whatsoever for the few moth-traps that were left on so it was quite a surprise when what little that was caught included a Slender Burnished Brass - only the second record for Portland of this pretty scarce immigrant; in due course we'll try and get a decent photograph of it out of glass tube but today its residual migratory urge was such that it just wouldn't oblige © Martin Cade:  

21st August

August days don't come much wilder than today, with fierce 60+mph winds that blew in overnight abating only a little through the hours of daylight. As it usually does during a storm, Chesil Cove produced the bulk of the quality on the sea, with 3 Long-tailed Skuas, 7 Balearic Shearwaters and singles of Arctic Skua, Great Skua and Little Gull the highlights; the Bill was quieter, with 16 Manx Shearwaters, 4 Balearic Shearwaters and a Storm Petrel as good as it got. Ferrybridge is usually good for some wrecked variety and some extensive coverage there came up with a Grey Phalarope, 5 Kittiwakes, 5 Little Terns, 3 Knot, 3 Arctic Terns, 2 Whimbrel and a Little Gulls amongst others.

Long-tailed Skua is a classic 'birder's bird' at Portland: anyone who puts time in with seawatching will likely have seen a few here but for the lister it can be a really tricky species to catch up with, what with most being fly-bys at the Bill or Chesil Cove; it's also a bird that's fantastically difficult to photograph at Portland: most are too distant or pass in tricky conditions, whilst the occasional close fly-bys always seem to present themselves to observers who don't have a camera to hand! Two of today's birds lingered for several hours in the Cove where they did come just about close enough on occasions to permit some rather evocative video footage © Joe Stockwell:



Ferrybridge is so good at providing variety on a stormy day © Debby Saunders (settled Grey Phalarope) and Pete Saunders (other photos):






After apparently going missing the Grey Phalarope returned to Ferrybridge at last light when a Little Gull also dropped in © Martin Cade:




20th August

The sea stole the show again today: routine passage never got beyond the pedestrian but, rarity-wise, the early risers scored with a Great Shearwater through off the Bill whilst 2 or 3 more Long-tailed Skuas passed Chesil Cove and the Bill later in the morning. It was genuinely hard work to get any sort of numbers from the two main watchpoints, with a full six hours through the morning at the Bill returning just 13 Manx Shearwaters, 8 Balearic Shearwaters and lower still totals of Common Scoter, Kittiwake, Sandwich Tern and Arctic Skua; Chesil Cove was hardly any more rewarding, with 15 Sanderling and 5 Arctic Terns about as good as it got. Legwork on the land came up with 31 Wheatears, 15 Willow Warblers, 4 Whinchats, 2 Spotted Flycatchers and singles of Tree Pipit and Pied Flycatcher at the Bill, with a Gadwall the best on offer at Ferrybridge.

19th August

A day that looked as if it might be a complete write-off ended up unexpectedly rewarding, with a late flourish on land and sea. Heavy rain that had set in before dawn persisted until lunchtime and even then drizzle and reduced visibility lingered on until well into the afternoon before the gloom lifted enough to permit some limited fieldwork. Most attention was devoted to the sea where the tiniest trickle of Manx Shearwaters was just about enough to stave off falling asleep at the eyepiece until the evening when a mini purple patch saw single Long-tailed Skuas pass both the Chesil Cove and the Bill (the former heading south and the latter west so quite likely not the same individual); 2 Balearic Shearwaters and an Arctic Skua were also logged at the Bill, with 5 Whimbrel and a Great Skua through off the Cove. The lingering Rosy Starling popped up again after a couple of days with no reports: it was first spotted on rooftops at Pound Piece before later showing up on a bird-table in a garden beside Easton Square. The day's only other news concerned a Pied Flycatcher and a few Willow Warblers at the Obs and 7 Sanderling, 7 Little Terns and a Common Sandpiper at Ferrybridge.

With something as striking as an adult Rosy Starling even a snatched record shot with a mobile phone is enough to provide a gripping little reminder of the fleeting visit of a nice rarity © Sally Philipps


18th August

The unsettled weather continued today with sporadic showers throughout the morning hampering the ringing efforts. However, we were not much aggrieved as signs of life both in the garden and further afield were few and far between. The highlights of a rather bird-free day at the Bill were 21 Wheatears, 12 Willow Warblers, two Garden Warblers and singles of Pied Flycatcher and Tree Pipit. Elsewhere on the island, signs were not good either with a trip around the center of the island yielding nothing of note and only the slightly unexpected highlight of a Chiffchaff of note at Ferrybridge.

After an enforced hiatus we were very pleased when Nick Hopper suggested deploying his recording kit at the Obs on a couple of seemingly promising-looking nights at the tail end of last week. Readers won't be surprised after seeing the numbers recorded that it's taken a long time to go through the recordings from these nights! Nick's report is as follows:

Will start with the second night - 14th/15th August - which produced a staggering 737 flycatcher calls. The dominant species was Pied Flycatcher with 472, Spotted Flycatcher 169 with a further 96 either or.
Also 202 Tree Pipit calls. The wader highlight was a Little Ringed Plover.
Other callers were:
Green Sandpiper
Greenshank
Turnstone 2
Common Sand 14
Ringed Plover 9 flocks
Dunlin 7 flocks
Knot
Bar-tailed Godwit 1 flock
Whimbrel 2 flocks
Common Tern

The night before - 13th/14th August - recorded 12 Pied Fly and 6 Spot Fly calls. Tree Pipit 173 calls and Robin 4 calls.
Other callers were:
Green Sandpiper 3
Grey Plover
Turnstone
Common Sandpiper 13
Whimbrel 3 flocks
Dunlin 2 flocks
Bar-tailed Godwit 1 flock
Ringed Plover 9
Grey Heron 3


17th August

An announcement for PBO members: this year's Annual General Meeting will take place as a virtual meeting at 7pm on Saturday 12th September 2020; an agenda for the meeting and details of how to attend can be viewed by clicking on the link HERE

A claggy day in more ways than one started damp, with shoes coated in clumps of sticky mud after yesterday's deluge, however the clouds rapidly evaporated to reveal a hot and humid afternoon. Much of the quality came before the departure of the cloud cover with six Pied Flycatchers trapped (two rather unusually amongst the crops in the Crown Fields), as well as the first decent passage of Tree Pipits of the season, of which four were trapped. Willow Warblers and Wheatears continued to be present in double figures, the supporting cast included singles of WhinchatGrasshopper, Sedge, Reed and Garden Warbler, as well as the first Chiffchaff since 17th July. A brief pulse of sea movement ahead of incoming rain at the end of the afternoon saw 70 Manx and 2 Balearic Shearwaters pass through off the Bill. Elsewhere on the island, a single Snipe, five Tree Pipits, two Yellow Wagtails and a single Pied Flycatcher were at Blacknor whilst another two of the latter were at Thumb Lane. Ferrybridge saw a little intrigue with a single Ruff, two Redshank and five Sanderling.

Always one of the trickier waders to catch up with at Portland, this Ruff made a typically fleeting visit to Ferrybridge this morning © Pete Saunders:


Tree Pipit passage is gathering momentum now that we're past the middle of August - this was one of four trapped this morning in the Crown Estate Field © Martin Cade:

16th August

Despite the healthy looking start to the day, a quick glance at the rain alarm showed an ever growing, torrential downpour heading our way from the French coast. Two or three hours of heaving showers (and a good few cups of tea) later and the sky finally brightened. The first birds to emerge post-rain were the Willow Warblers, around thirty began snapping and feeding around the freshly wetted sycamores. Next came the highlight of the day as 2 Crossbills came in high calling and eventually landed in the trees above the drive, the one in view being a rather drab, streaky juvenile was nevertheless greatly appreciated. Amongst the other scattered migrants were another eight Sedge Warblers, six Pied Flycatchers, two Spotted Flycatchers, two Redstarts and singles of Grasshopper Warbler and Garden Warbler. With the driving rain forcing most watchers away from the patio, it was a limited sea watch but a Pomarine Skua and a probable Thresher Shark were well earned highlights.

Elsewhere on the island, the Rosy Starling continued to delight the occasional observer who struck it lucky. This shot from yesterday at Weston was the first we've actually seen of it (we haven't even managed to see it ourselves!) © Fiona Grant:


The two Crossbills were quite vocal during their brief visit to the Obs; they were evidently both juveniles and in these two short recordings they're perched at first before one flies off:



Last night's moth-trapping saw a precipitous decline in both numbers and variety after the good times of the last week. We've been having bags of fun with the trapping, with a particularly impressive feature being the amount of dispersal afoot on the hot, sultry nights. We've always been fascinated by this element of the captures and often speculate to ourselves quite what the mechanism is that prompts this behaviour from what we imagine must be a tiny proportion of the source population (to put it in human terms: what's the mindset that sees them up and leave suitable habitat and their mates and end up in a godforsaken spot like the Bill; the chances of there being any benefit for an individual moth must be extremely slim so presumably it's a selfless action designed to benefit the species as a whole in the longer term). The china-marks, with their aquatic larvae, pretty obviously aren't very well represented at Portland even if one of them - Small China-mark - has colonised ponds at the Obs and elsewhere in recent years; several other species do turn up from time to time and a couple of nights ago another strayed out here for the first time ever: Beautiful China-mark Nymphula nitidulata...


A group of sporadic visitors that we're always keen on are the mochas: most are insects of woodland or heathland and although none are resident here all do turn up in varying degrees of frequency. One of the most widespread in Britain - Birch Mocha - is actually one of the least frequent here so was a welcome capture on the same night as the Beautiful China-mark...


The Coleophora case-bearers are invariably tricky to sort out by external features but one that's do-able by eye (once the quite similar Body-marked Case-bearer C. clypeiferella has been eliminated) is the Glasswort Case-bearer Coleophora salicorniae - several strayed out as far as the Bill through the week © Martin Cade:

15th August

Despite the continuation of the previous days movement of Flycatchers through the night, the damp, grey morning saw a slow start to the proceedings. However, as the morning progressed the birds began to appear and a clear dichotomy of species between the Crown Field and the garden nets appeared with the fields producing a steady trickle of Sedge Warblers and Whitethroats, whilst the garden contained the RedstartsPied and Spotted Flycatchers. Out in the field, those who chose to brave the impending drizzle added a selection of early autumn migrants to the list including singles of Tree Pipit, Whinchat and Crossbill, as well as some lingering waders (singles of Turnstone, Common Sandpiper and Ringed Plover). Elsewhere on the island, the Rosy Starling remained elusive giving sporadic glimpses on the rooftops of Weston whilst Ferrybridge saw the additions of four Curlews, one Wheatear and a Greenshank to the usual fare. 

Sparrowhawks become remarkably unobtrusive during the breeding season, but post-dispersal they resume harassing the locals in both the gardens and at Ferrybridge ©Pete Saunders: 


14th August


We'll be hosting an In Focus field event at the Obs between 10 am and 4pm this Sunday, 16th August

The murky skies introduced in the wake of yesterday's heavy rain did the trick and grounded migrants in some numbers today. Pied Flycatcher was the feature species, with the logged total of 30 at the Bill being considered likely an underestimate as, based on evidence from the mist-nets, newcomers were dropping in all day (the total of 18 ringed at the Obs was higher than a lot of recent annual totals there). Willow Warbler numbered around 100 at the Bill, where further lesser totals included 30 Wheatears, 8 Spotted Flycatchers and 4 Redstarts, along with 200 Swifts overhead. Waders figured well even if a Little Ringed Plover at Ferrybridge was the only slightly out of the ordinary constituent. Rarity-wise, a mobile Rosy Starling at first Reap Lane and later Weston topped off the day nicely.

We're probably supposed to be dispassionate about this sort of the thing but sometimes it's great to just indulge in some good bits of birds in the hand; a Redstart's tail...


...a Pied Flycatcher's tertials...


...and it is always quite educational - spot the differences here between an adult Spotted Flycatcher (top) and a youngster (bottom) © Martin Cade:



As well as being nice rarities, some of the moths in recent nights have been super-smart; Beautiful Marbled, Pale Shoulder and Bedstraw Hawkmoth © Martin Cade:



13th August

Today's only change was in the wrong direction, with apparently promising-looking conditions dropping the fewest new arrivals of the week; something else that dropped was a substantial quantity of rain out of a cloudburst late in the afternoon and this did at least prompt a late flurry of wader activity. Passerines were noticeably thin on the ground, with singles of Whinchat, Reed Warbler and Garden Warbler the pick of the bunch at the Bill. It was a tad busier overhead, with 40 Swifts, 19 Tree Pipits, 5 Ringed Plovers, 4 Yellow Wagtails and a Golden Plover over the Bill. Waders were on the up all day, with well into three figure totals of Dunlin and Ringed Plover at Ferrybridge by the evening; a Little Ringed Plover also dropped in at this time, whilst soon after dark a good little passage of waders developed over the Bill. The only other report was of a total of 7 Balearic Shearwaters through off the Bill.

12th August

Passage is struggling to get beyond the routine at the moment with daily small flurries of departing summer migrants but not a hint of birds of more distant origin. Today's samey tally at the Bill included 40 Willow Warblers, 9 Tree Pipits, 3 Yellow Wagtails, a Garden Warbler and a Pied Flycatcher, with another couple of Pied Flycatchers in the middle of the island. At Ferrybridge, a Marsh Harrier passed over and later departed to the south from the Bill, whilst wader totals increased a little and included 133 Ringed Plover, 82 Dunlin, 5 Sanderling and 3 Common Sandpipers.

This morning's Marsh Harrier over Ferrybridge © Pete Saunders:


After a slow start, Wheatears have been getting a little more numerous in recent days © Geoff Orton:


We're struggling to cope with the bug numbers during the current hot spell: the moth-traps have been rammed and take an age to work through, whilst by day there seems to be just so much about that we're getting the feel that we're missing things amongst the numbers - surely there'll be the odd Southern Migrant Hawker or Long-tailed Blue tucked away somewhere? Splashes of colour are everywhere - Jersey Tiger © Roy Norris...


...Brimstone and Painted Lady © Geoff Orton: