Quite how we got anything out of today was as much a mystery as a surprise: unaccountably, considering the continuing overcast sky that ought to be dropping a hatful of birds in mid-October, there looked to be almost nothing about by way of common migrants but out of nowhere a Radde's Warbler - the first warbler several fieldworkers had seen all morning - found its way into the Culverwell mist-nets. This aside, singles of Ring Ouzels at the Bill and the Verne, and a Merlin over the Bill were the only minor scarcities deserving a mention from the ground; overhead, passage was very subdued but did include 230 Linnets and 64 Siskins. The brisk-ish southwesterly perked up sea interest that included 130 Mediterranean Gulls, 89 Kittiwakes, 8 Balearic Shearwaters, 4 Arctic Skuas and a Sooty Shearwater through off the Bill.
Portland's done relatively well for Radde's Warbler over the years - if we've counted them up correctly today's bird is the 17th for the island © Martin Cade:
Very quiet this morning at the Bill my highlight being two dark-phase Arctic Skuas. On shown here. pic.twitter.com/hrYGr9mgtE
— Keith Pritchard (@portlandbirder) October 11, 2023
