14th September

Lovely weather, lots of fieldwork...no birds - well, that's a slight exaggeration but there was a lot less than might have been hoped on this date even if the conditions were way too nice to have expected a good drop of migrants. Grounded arrivals at the Bill did include 4 Whinchats, 2 Snipe, 2 Spotted Flycatchers and a Pied Flycatcher amongst the thin spread of more routine fare; the long-staying Marsh Harrier was also still there, whilst at Ferrybridge the Sanderling tally upped a notch to 10 and a Yellow-legged Gull was new in. Far more was expected overhead but in the event passage was really slow: a Honey Buzzard heading south over East Weare was nice and a Cattle Egret arriving from the south over the Bill was still a good island record but movement of pipits, wagtails and hirundines gathered no momentum at all and an early Reed Bunting over the Bill was the only other very minor oddity. Kittiwakes and auks were still moving in fair numbers off the Bill - 275 and 229 respectively were logged during the morning - with 53 Common Scoter, 9 Balearic Shearwaters and 5 Arctic Skuas also through there.

Despite record numbers trapped at Culverwell, overhead passage of Grey Wagtails has actually been well below average so far this autumn; we'd guess this ringed bird visiting a garden pond at Sweethill is one of the Culverwell birds and it'll be interesting to see if it hangs around - hitherto, none of the birds ringed on migration at the Bill have ever been either retrapped or suspected of wintering on the island (there is a small winter population here) © Debby Saunders:

13th September

Friday the 13th didn't go either way for us - fair weather was very welcome for fieldwork and there were birds about but ultimately the day just gently fizzled out all rather uneventfully. Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs were most numerous on the ground - probably reaching 30 apiece at the Bill - and it was noticeable that some of the typical September shorter-distance movers like Dunnocks, Robins and tits were getting conspicuous both in the field and from the mist-nets; by way of less-frequents, the Marsh Harrier remained at the Bill and there was again a Firecrest there, a Pied Flycatcher pitched up at Reap Lane and the first Dark-bellied Brent Goose of the season was at Ferrybridge. The clear sky was not as filled with visible migrants as might have been expected with only Meadow Pipits at all numerous over the Bill and even they dwindled away quite quickly after the dawn rush. The spectacle of constantly visible Bluefin Tuna provided most of the offshore interest; Kittiwakes and auks were moving steadily off the Bill - reaching 250 and 80 respectively - but 7 Balearic Shearwaters was otherwise as good as it got.

There was a return-to-summer feel to the weather but the birds were a lot more appropriate for the season - Spotted Flycatcher, Marsh Harrier and Dark-bellied Brent Goose © Martin Cade:





The Fleet Ferrybridge - This morning on the Fleet Brent Goose (DB), Knot 2, Sanderling 2, Bar-tailed Godwit 2, Ringed Plover 100+, Dunlin17+, Turnstone 9, Sandwich Tern 6 @portlandbirdobs.bsky.social @dorsetbirdclub.bsky.social

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— Dorset Bird Tours (@dorsetbirdtours.bsky.social) September 13, 2024 at 5:30 PM

After some while searching I managed to find a Bastard-toadflax plant at Portland Bill today. I carefully watched it until, bingo, the hoped for Down Shieldbug appeared to soak up the sun. New for me and one I've wanted to see for ages. Thanks to @portlandbirdobs.bsky.social for invaluable video!

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— Paul Harris (@paulupwey.bsky.social) September 13, 2024 at 6:05 PM

12th September

More northwesterlies, fewer migrants and, not long after darkness fell, the first single digit temperature of the autumn - all in all pretty grim. The only migrant on the up - very predictably at this juncture - was Meadow Pipit, with 200 through overhead at the Bill; the other expected overhead movers were also all represented but none in anything like that sort of number. Grounded arrivals were only sparsely spread, with 2 Common Sandpipers and singles of Whimbrel, Garden Warbler, Pied Flycatcher and Firecrest at the Bill (along with the lingering Marsh Harrier) and 2 Great Spotted Woodpeckers at Thumb Lane the best on offer around the south of the island; waders on the up included Knot, of which there were 9 at Ferrybridge. Sea passage remained very pedestrian, with 120 Manx Shearwaters, 92 Kittiwakes, 7 Balearic Shearwaters, 4 Arctic Skuas and a Great Skua through off the Bill.

There are worse places to see the sun rise © Martin Cade:


Photo opportunities on the Obs patio this morning - Pied Flycatcher. Tree Pipit and Small Tortoiseshell © John Martin:




A few of the burgeoning Knot group at Ferrybridge © Pete Saunders:

11th September

Today reminded us why generally we're not great fans of brisk northwesterlies - it was rubbish! That's a slight exaggeration since the day's list wasn't too bad, but within it numbers were very much on the low side and the strength of the wind always made for uncomfortable fieldwork. Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs were surprisingly well represented in what sheltered spots there were but grounded migrants weren't otherwise at all plentiful, with 5 Whinchats, 2 Redstarts and singles of Marsh Harrier (the very long-stayer), Merlin, Whimbrel, Knot, White Wagtail and Firecrest about the best of it at the Bill; another 6 Knot were at Ferrybridge. The clear sky was bereft of much by way of visible passage save for more evidence of Meadow Pipits beginning to get going. The sea was given plenty of looks just in case but the rewards were negligible: a Sooty Shearwater passed by off the Bill but even the Balearic Shearwater tally there was reduced to a paltry 9.   

So rare these days as to be worth a mention in its own right: Small Tortoiseshell in the Obs garden this afternoon - think it's only the second one seen at Portland all year

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— Portland Bird Observatory (@portlandbirdobs.bsky.social) September 11, 2024 at 1:36 PM

10th September

Talking of the new normal, it's long been thought that one of the most overdue additions to the Portland bird list was Pallid Harrier, so when we received a call from Charlie Richards reporting a small, pale ringtail harrier arriving in off the sea over Chesil Cove our interest was certainly piqued - all the more so when not long afterwards a report was called in of the same bird over the Slopes at the Bill. A small crowd assembled overlooking the nearby Crown Estate Field where the bird duly appeared shortly afterwards before heading off up the valley towards the Business Park; this was followed by a second appearance quite a while later but this time it was lost heading down towards the Bill - with no further sightings it seems likely it may have departed out to sea at this time. In the brisk westerly most of the coverage before this distraction had been of the sea but there was no repeat of yesterday's events: off the Bill the light trickle of Manx and even fewer Balearic Shearwaters - just 12 of the latter were logged - included in their midst 3 Sooty Shearwaters, with 40 Sandwich Terns, 6 Arctic Skuas, a Shelduck and an Arctic Tern also through there and a Caspian Gull briefly grounded on East Cliffs; 2 Arctic Skuas and a Red-throated Diver passed through off Chesil Cove. Searches for the harrier resulted in extensive coverage of the land but it was soon evident there were few passerine arrivals about; the Marsh Harrier was still lingering about at the Bill - with some evidence of a second individual there - whilst wader interest included a Knot at the Bill and a good array of the regulars at Ferrybridge.

For observers at the Bill, the harrier was rather distant and the first impressions were of a very fast, agile, lightly-built bird, with the extremely pale underparts and narrow blackish wedge on the underside of the primaries resulting in it immediately being called as a second calendar year Pallid © Martin Cade...



...however, subsequent examination of the photographs obtained led to some doubt creeping in - these three © John Martin...




...three more © Max Barrey:




...and this one © Jodie Henderson:


The hesitancy came about as a narrow dark Montagu's Harrier-ish wing-bar seemed to be visible on the upperwing greater coverts, the head/upper breast looked oddly hooded and there was a feeling/surprise that a second calendar year male would still have such female-like dark upperparts. However, these doubts were quite soon allayed when scrutiny of the literature showed that this freshly-moulted plumage is quite variable and what we were seeing fell well within this variation.

The East Cliffs Caspian Gull - so striking even when most of it isn't visible! Did we really used to overlook things like this or were they just not here? © Matt Ames:


And a non-Ferrybridge Knot for a change © Matt Ames:


Ferrybridge this (windy) morning 4 Bar-tailed Godwit, 4 Knot, 5 Sanderling, 45 Dunlin, 160 Ringed Plover, Redshank, 12 Sandwich Tern

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— Debra Saunders (@debbyseamist.bsky.social) September 10, 2024 at 8:38 AM

9th September

Once in a lifetime events - in fact in today's case, before last year a hitherto never in a lifetime event - really are becoming the new normal. For the second year in succession an extraordinary Great Shearwater event unfolded off the Bill in the most unexpected of circumstances, when in a stiff northwesterly 700 piled through without any warning in little more 30 minutes; in view of the conditions we'd imagine that this was a food-related event and that a huge flock of Greats that had gathered somewhere way out in Lyme Bay chose this moment to en masse up and head off looking for opportunities elsewhere - who'd bet against repeats with increasing frequency? The sea was otherwise well worth attention, with c1000 Manx and plenty (more than 100) of Balearic Shearwaters through along with c100 Sandwich, 20 Common and an Arctic Tern, 7 Arctic and 4 Great Skuas, 6 Sooty Shearwaters and a Wigeon;  The land was also a surprise package, with far more about than had been expected: Wheatears, Blackcaps and both phylloscs were well-represented on the deck where the likes of a scatter of Whinchats, a Firecrest and the long-staying Marsh Harrier at the Bill, a Nightjar at Wakeham and the Little Stint and a good miscellany of other waders at Ferrybridge added a bit of spice to proceedings; overhead, Tree Pipits, Grey and Yellow Wagtails, and hirundines were all relatively numerous and singles of Golden Plover, Merlin, Short-eared Owl and another Swift were logged. Why is that we're not keen on northwesterlies?

Everyone present at the Obs was so in awe of the Great Shearwater event when it suddenly unfolded that it was difficult to tear yourself away and hotfoot to the Bill tip for photo opportunities - we eventually did and arrived just in time to see one not far off the Obelisk but were so excited by the crippling view that we messed up photographing it...and you guessed it - that was the very last one seen! We're not sure that all that many of them had been coming that close in but there were other nice sights like Arctic Skuas so close that from our viewpoint at the pumping station they were disappearing from view below the Obelisk © Martin Cade:


An interesting sight at Ferrybridge on recent evenings has been a good selection of specimens of presumed tundrae Ringed Plovers - the dark, dinky little things that breed in Lapland and northern Russia - one or two (seemingly all juveniles as far as we can see) have been really startling, plain chocolate brown-coloured birds...



...contrast those with this selection of presumably nominate hiaticula - the larger, paler things that breed both locally and across a huge range from northeast Canada to western Europe © Martin Cade:





With a few August ringing records over the years, this male Firecrest is still rather early for this traditional late autumn migrant. #birdringing @portlandbirdobs.bsky.social

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— Mark Cutts (@slashercutts.bsky.social) Sep 9, 2024 at 7:34

Surprisingly fair overnight catch of migrant moths at the Obs incl an arrival of 13 Scarce Bordered Straws (previous highest total so far this month = 6); also 1 Convolvulus Hawk. By day, Clouded Yellow in the Crown Estate Field = only the second at Portland this yr (only other at Church Ope in May)

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— Portland Bird Observatory (@portlandbirdobs.bsky.social) Sep 9, 2024 at 13:29

8th September

With rain an ongoing affliction - throughout the morning at least - fieldwork opportunities were constantly interrupted and no doubt the less rewarding for it. There was a fair spread of grounded migrants at the Bill but nothing at all unexpected was uncovered; the Marsh Harrier was still about there, whilst elsewhere the Teal remained at Southwell/Suckthumb and a late Little Tern and singles of Black-tailed Godwit, Curlew Sandpiper and Little Stint were at Ferrybridge. Overhead passage was a non-event during the morning but 2 more Ospreys passed through during the afternoon and a late Swift passed over at Southwell. The Balearic Shearwater tally off the Bill dwindled slightly to c200, with 58 Sandwich Terns, 43 commic terns, 11 Arctic Skuas and 3 Great Skuas also through there.

Not the sort of view you expect to get of a Teal at Portland...


...the bird that spent a while yesterday in Pete and Debby Saunders' garden at Sweethill moved a couple of hundred metres to Nick Stantiford's garden today and was also seen once at Suckthumb © Nick Stantiford:


Wader interest at Ferrybridge included Black-tailed Godwit and Curlew Sandpiper © Pete Saunders and the lingering Little Stint © Martin Cade:




After several days of only noticing juvenile Knots settled at Ferrybridge, this evening it was interesting to see a juvenile and adult-type bird together there - a parent and youngster remaining together on migration or just a coincidental hitching-up? We thought that adult Siberian-breeding Knots didn't moult out of their summer plumage until they reach Africa so were wondering if these were birds from Canada/Greenland (that moult earlier in Europe) but on looking more closely at the adult it looks to have left-over juvenile small coverts near the wing-bend so we're guessing it's actually in first summer plumage - is that right? © Martin Cade:



7th September

There was a fair selection of both scarcer and routine arrivals today but we get the feel that just at the moment we're on the wrong side of the weather for the bulk of both bird and bug migration - whether the latest batch of rain that rolled across the Channel and wrote off the afternoon will make a difference remains to be seen. A Wryneck and an Ortolan Bunting provided the best of the scarcity interest at the Bill, with another Ortolan seen earlier over Coombefield; the long-staying Marsh Harrier remained at the Bill and another left out to sea from there, whilst on the common migrant front there sounded at dawn to have been a good drop of phylloscs at the Bill but they were less apparent later when the 60 or so Wheatears logged were the most conspicuous arrivals. The richest vein of less common migrants was tapped into at Coombefield/Thumb Lane where 2 Firecrests and 2 Pied Flycatchers were of interest. The conditions remained conducive for wader arrivals, with 2 Little Stints, a Curlew Sandpiper and a Black-tailed Godwit the best at Ferrybridge and 6 Common Sandpipers, 2 Snipe and a Knot amongst others at the Bill; a Teal on a garden pond at Sweethill was an unexpected waterfowl arrival. Balearic Shearwaters again dominated off the Bill where at least 500 were offshore before the rain set in; 10 Arctic Skuas passed through or lingered there and terns featured strongly, with 50 Sandwich and 30 commics lingering and singles of Arctic and Black through offshore; another 8 Arctic Terns passed through at Ferrybridge where up to 100 Sandwich Terns were settled at times.

It was another of this sort of day - we don't know what the official rainfall total is for the last few days but from the fieldwork point of view it's suddenly got pretty grim with everywhere comprehensively muddy and dripping © Martin Cade:


Although inadvertently flushed up at point blank range the Ortolan at the Bill subsequently afforded no more than flying-away views © Martin Cade:


This Teal was an unexpected garden visitor at Sweethill...


...whilst, in the absence of yesterday's Baird's Sandpiper, the Little Stint at Ferrybridge got a lot of attention today © Pete Saunders:



Highlight from the bill this morning, a chap told me that a Convolvulous Hawk had just come in off the sea a flew right past him!! He kindly showed me where it landed!

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— Joe Stockwell (@joestockwell.bsky.social) Sep 7, 2024 at 10:07

6th September

Another nice migration day with action on all fronts - some no doubt the result of a peculiar weather situation that saw a band of heavy rain linger all day long over the near-by mainland without ever really impinging on the island. Find of the day was Portland second-ever Baird's Sandpiper that pitched up during the early evening at Ferrybridge - the only other island record was at the Bill long, long ago in November 1967; sadly, it proved to be a relatively brief in-and-out job and couldn't be re-found during the last hour or more of daylight. Further scarcities included a dawn Ortolan Bunting calling over Blacknor and a Cattle Egret passing over at the Bill; an early-doors Curlew Sandpiper at Ferrybridge and a Firecrest at the Bill were both firsts for the season and the long-staying Marsh Harrier remained at the Bill. Routine migrants were again quite well-represented with a good spread of grounded arrivals at the Bill, amongst which 25 Whitethroats and 12 Whinchats were peaks for the season to date. Overhead passage wasn't a huge feature until the afternoon when an arrival of mixed hirundines included c400 House Martins; 15 Knot, 2 late Swifts and a Greenshank were also of note overhead. The sea was again busy with at least 200 lingering Balearic Shearwaters off the Bill where 210 Kittiwakes, 6 Arctic Skuas, 2 Black Terns and an Arctic Tern also passed through.

The Baird's Sandpiper was not alone in making the briefest of stops at Ferrybridge - the Curlew Sandpiper was just as short a stayer © Debby (settled) and Pete Saunders (flying):



The Grey Plover also at Ferrybridge © Debby Saunders:


The first Firecrest of the autumn...


...and what might well be one of the last Swifts we see this year © Martin Cade:


Today's migrant and other moths of interest from the Obs; Pale Eggar a Portland rarity (<5 records); Beautiful Gothic the latest of the Portland specials to get on the wing.

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— Portland Bird Observatory (@portlandbirdobs.bsky.social) Sep 7, 2024 at 0:10

Finally, we don't have any photos of today's Baird's Sandpiper but whilst missing it this evening we were reminded of the last one that didn't quite make it to Portland: Brett's bird at Lynch Cove, just a little way up the Fleet, in September 2017 - a good find and a really nice bird © Martin Cade:

5th September

What a shocker: rain set in only an hour or so after dawn and continued for the duration of day and well on into the night. Birding opportunities were necessarily very limited although the sea and Ferrybridge did get good coverage. The wash-out on the land was disappointing since there looked/sounded to be a good bit more about than yesterday but in the short time available nothing more than 3 Spotted Flycatchers and a Redstart in the vicinity of the Obs could be found amongst the conspicuously numerous phylloscs and Wheatears. The Ferrybridge wader tally was constantly changing, but 29 Knot, 8 Sanderling, 3 Little Stints, 2 Bar-tailed and a Black-tailed Godwit, a Whimbrel and a Redshank were there at various times amongst the routine array; Sandwich Terns reached a peak of 21 there. Balearic Shearwaters were again ever-present off the Bill where there were often 50 or more at a time and likely still well into the hundreds altogether; plenty of Manx and a single Sooty Shearwater also passed by there.

Today's rainfall radar images (this one was from 1pm) were something to make the heart sink - or if you like seeing migrating/disorientated waders they were something to get excited by:


Ferrybridge was one of the few places that was birdable today and, as so often happens in these conditions, there was a constant turn over of birds. These Black & Bar-tailed Godwits, Sanderlings and a Whimbrel were there at dawn before it rained © Pete Saunders:




...but with nightfall, the continuing heavy rain and the tide rising enough to cover the sandflats all coinciding at the end of the day there was some fantastic late movement to tap into. Three Little Stints dropped in for a few minutes...


...but the most compelling sight was the constant departure of noisy flocks of waders rising up into the leaden sky and heading away south...


...it was getting so dark by the time two successive flocks of Knot zoomed through that but for their  constant calling they were barely identifiable. Really, really exciting birding! © Martin Cade:


Today's wet weather did give us a chance to finish off a little project we were messing around with back in August. Bastard-toadflax Thesium humifusum is a rare-ish plant of good-quality calcareous grassland that grows here and there on the Slopes at the Bill; entomologists also know it as the only host-plant of two obviously equally rare-ish insects, the micro-moth Chalk Hill Ridge-back Epermenia insecurella and the Down Shieldbug Canthophorus impressus. Our particular interest has always been in the moth and as we hadn't seen that for a while we thought we'd try and get some in-situ photographs of it; this proved to be a lot more tricky than anticipated but did lead to the cobbling together of some video and stills that hopefully give a slight feel for what the plant and its bugs look like in the field. Many thanks to Erin Taylor, Mark Cutts, Martin King, Matt the Botanist and Jodie for various assistances - particularly for help with locating the plant in the first place which wasn't all that easy since most of it had already gone over for this year © Martin Cade:

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