7th November

With yet more wind and rain the order of the day the sea might have been expected to provide the day's action but it was far quieter than over the weekend: routine movement was reduced to a trickle and singles of Sooty and Balearic Shearwaters through off the Bill and a likely Long-tailed Skua through at Portland Harbour were the only worthwhile sightings. A surprise on the land was a Common Rosefinch that visited feeders for a while in a private garden at the Grove; elsewhere, a Firecrest was new at the Bill where the Cetti's Warbler remained, 6 Fieldfares and 3 Redwings were at Wakeham, and 5 Bar-tailed Godwits, 4 Pale-bellied Brents, 2 Great Northern Divers and 2 Goosanders were at Ferrybridge/Portland Harbour.

Unfortunately, the Common Rosefinch was mostly on view during the heaviest of the rain early in the morning when it could only be watched/videoed through rain-soaked glass. It's not the latest island record by some margin - one of the previous November records was on the very last day of the month - but it is the first autumn record of an adult/sub-adult male © Mary Snell:


Today's Goosanders and one of yesterday's Little Gull at Ferrybridge © Pete Saunders: