28th August

A day that just ticked along largely underwhelmingly, with no shows from any of the scarcer migrants that were thought good possibilities given the freshening northeasterly.

Portland Bill
Migrants Yellow Wagtail 70, Wheatear 20, Willow Warbler 12, Whinchat 9, Tree Pipit 6, Ringed Plover 5, Grey Wagtail 4, Blackcap 4, Dunlin 2, Sedge Warbler 2, with singles including Grey Heron, Marsh Harrier 1s,  Purple Sandpiper, Grasshopper Warbler and Pied Flycatcher.
Sea passage Balearic Shearwater 6w 2e, Sandwich Tern 6w, Great Skua 1w, Arctic Skua 1w.

Thumb Lane
Pied Flycatcher 1.

Ferrybridge
Sanderling 7, Knot 2, Bar-tailed Godwit 2.

Moths
Selected immigrants Obs: Rush Veneer 97, Rusty-dot Pearl 90, Pearly Underwing 10, Turnip 6, European Corn-borer 2, Delicate 2, Silver Y 2, Olive-tree Pearl 1, Wax Moth 1, Hummingbird Hawkmoth 1. Weston: Small Marbled 1. Broadcroft: Beautiful Marbled 1.

Immigrant moth numbers have been pretty good in recent nights even if it seems likely that a lot of individuals are now the home-bred progeny of earlier arrivals. For us, there's actually been more interest from the odds and ends of wanderers/dispersers that have been making it out to the Bill; Frosted Orange will no doubt be familiar to most people from the mainland but for us this pretty moth is a far less than annual visitor to Portland...


...White-streak Grass-veneer Agriphila latistria is a tiny bit more frequent here and we do have some evidence that it might be resident along the causeway between the island and the mainland but it's always a decent moth to see at the Bill.


We've had a run of this little Caloptilia just lately - is it now eight in the last fortnight plus one or two earlier in the summer? - and we suspect they're all the relatively recent colonist, Pale Maple Slender Caloptilia honoratella, although dissection will be required to confirm that suspicion © Martin Cade: