The presence of a good-sized, making moon in the clear night sky had been reasoned to be beneficial on the hitherto quiet wader front but today's variety in that line came as quite a surprise, with the star of the show the island's fourth White-rumped Sandpiper that showed up at Ferrybridge; 2 Little Ringed Plovers there and singles of Snipe and Green Sandpiper at the Bill were also additions to the varied tally of more routine fare. Passerines weren't to be outdone, with another flurry of 70 Willow Warblers and 20 Sedge Warblers at the Bill being joined by the likes of singles of Tree Pipit and Spotted Flycatcher on the ground and a trickle of Sand Martins and a few extra House Martins overhead. Three Balearic Shearwaters and an Arctic Skua were as good as it got on the sea at the Bill.
The first Convolvulus Hawkmoth of the year was easily the pick of an otherwise very limited selection of immigrant moths at the Obs.
The White-rumped Sandpiper at Ferrybridge © Pete Saunders (flight), Keith Pritchard (settled) and Martin Cade (video):
The morning's two Little Ringed Plovers at Ferrybridge © Pete Saunders...
...and the Snipe and Green Sandpiper over the Bill © Martin Cade:
The next week or so ought to see autumn Sedge Warbler passage reach its peak - at the rate things are going there'll need to be a massive perking up in numbers for the season's total to reach even faint respectability, let alone get close to matching last year's record © Martin Cade:
First Convolvulus Hawk of the year from the Obs moth-traps this mrng pic.twitter.com/sieeXUxERO
— Portland Bird Observatory (@PortlandBirdObs) August 5, 2022