The deleterious effects of rapid emergence from a comfortable bed in the small hours to rescue the nocmig recorder from potential tech meltdown brought on by an unforecast deluge that dragged on towards dawn quickly wore off once it became apparent that the rain had downed migrants aplenty. At the Bill,
Wheatears were everywhere and reached a conservative tally of 250;
Spotted Flycatchers might only have managed a tenth of that number but were still conspicuous, whilst among the less obtrusive arrivals 50
Willow Warblers, 25
Tree Pipits, 20
Whitethroats, 15
Whinchats. 10
Sedge Warblers, 5
Pied Flycatchers and 3
Redstarts were all worthwhile totals in the context of the relative dearth of grounded migrants so far this autumn. Amongst the also-rans there, a departing
Osprey, 4
Greenshank, 2
Green Sandpipers and a
Golden Plover were of note, whilst elsewhere the likes of 10
Sanderling and a tardy
Little Tern dropped out of the murk at Ferrybridge. The
Balearic Shearwater tally again hovered around the 200 mark off the Bill, where 350
Gannets, 70 departing
Lesser Black-backed Gulls and singles of
Great Northern Diver,
Great Skua and
Arctic Skua were also logged.
It was a pleasure to see migrants in quantity everywhere today; Wheatear © Geoff Orton and Pied and Spotted Flycatchers © Martin Cade:
An odd quirk of the day was the number of adult Spotted Flycatchers grounded. At this time of year, adults are usually far too clever/experienced to have to stop in any numbers in the suboptimal habitat on offer at the Bill but the ringers tell us that nearly half of the birds handled at the Obs today were adults. Given a half-decent view Spot Flys are relatively easy to age in the field in autumn, as evidenced by our photo above that shows a worn, slightly scruffy adult with a selection of darker, fresher, newly-moulted tertials and greater coverts; youngsters are altogether more sparkling, with a prominent wing-bar and very often a scattering of retained juvenile spots on the uppertail coverts and mantle/scapulars (we covered their ageing on the blog last autumn
26th August 2023).
The single Bar-tailed Godwit at Ferrybridge is looking a bit lonesome © Pete Saunders:
Ferrybridge 15:30 2 Sep 2024
Sandwich Tern 10
Little Tern 1 juv
Common Tern 1 ad
Sanderling 10
Redshank 1
Bar-tailed Godwit 1
Portland Bill busy with wheatears etc -lovely murky day. Waverley 1E
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— Steve M (@steveweynature.bsky.social) Sep 2, 2024 at 17:53
One thing that's really on the up at Portland these days is the Barn Owl - Mark and Verity trapped and ringed another two new birds at the Bill last night © Verity Hill...
...and whilst wandering around a little-watched part of the island today Duncan Walbridge stumbled across yet another breeding pair that we weren't aware of © Duncan Walbridge:
A respectable 80 birds of 14 species ringed at the three Bill ringing sites today; 27 Willow Warblers and 16 Spotted Flycatchers topping the totals, with 3 Pied Flycatchers and the first 3 Redstarts of the autumn amongst the rest.
Thanks Thomas Miller for a few photos.
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— Portland Bird Observatory (@portlandbirdobs.bsky.social) Sep 2, 2024 at 23:44
Good migrant moth influx at the Obs last night incl 55 ferrugalis, 52 SY, 23 vitrealis, 21 xylostella, 14 noctuella, 14 DSGrass, 6 Scarce Bordered Straw, 5 Corn-borers, 3 Painted Lady, 2 Red Admiral, 2 Delicate, 2 Porter's R, singles of lots of others incl amplana, extimalis & Black Arches
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— Portland Bird Observatory (@portlandbirdobs.bsky.social) Sep 2, 2024 at 9:01
