July 2009

 

   

       Four-spotted Footman - Portland Bill, 31st July 2009 © Martin Cade

  31st July

The nicest day for a while allowed for better coverage of the Bill area but there were few rewards of any consequence, with the Bill area producing 20 Sand Martins, 4 Willow Warblers, 2 Common Sandpipers, a Greenshank, a Wheatear and a Sedge Warbler on the land and 7 Common Scoter, 6 Manx Shearwaters and 2 Balearic Shearwaters through on the sea. The only other news was of 10 Dunlin, a Sanderling and a Mediterranean Gull at Ferrybridge and 30 Common Terns and 4 Sandwich Terns in Portland Harbour.

It was a much better night for common immigrant moths, with the Obs garden traps producing totals of 31 Silver Y, 12 Dark Sword Grass, 7 Rush Veneer, a Rusty-dot Pearl and a Four-spotted Footman.

30th July

In bright but blustery conditions the only reports of note were of 2 Willow Warblers and singles of Common Sandpiper, Turnstone and Wheatear at the Bill and 15 Manx Shearwaters and 2 Whimbrel passing by on the sea there. 

Singles of Rusty-dot Pearl and Silver Y were the only immigrants in the Obs garden moth-traps this morning.

29th July

With showers through the morning and persistent heavy rain setting in by midday the only reports from the Bill area were of 3 Grey Herons, 2 Whimbrel and a Common Sandpiper on/overhead on the land and 30 Manx Shearwaters, 7 Common Scoter, 2 Balearic Shearwaters and a Sandwich Tern through on the sea.

It was another poor night in the Obs garden moth-traps with 3 Silver Y the only immigrants caught.

28th July

Still not too much on the move at the Bill where the only reports so far today have been of 2 Willow Warblers, a Whimbrel and a Common Sandpiper on the land and 34 Manx Shearwaters, 4 Balearic Shearwaters and a Sandwich Tern through on the sea.

Seven Silver Y were the only immigrants in the Obs garden moth-traps this morning.

27th July

News from the Bill area: 2 Whimbrel, a Little Egret, a Green Sandpiper, a Common Sandpiper, a Yellow-legged Gull and a Sedge Warbler on the land and 12 Common Scoter and a Manx Shearwater through on the sea. 

Immigrants in the Obs garden moth-traps this morning: 9 Silver Y, 8 Rush Veneer. 2 Dark Sword Grass and 1 Rusty-dot Pearl.

Late news for last week: we've just received a report from a visitor to the area of an Alpine Swift seen briefly but well near the Coastwatch lookout on the West Cliffs at the Bill on 20th July.

Finally, thanks to John Lucas for e-mailing us the news for the last few days and for keeping the Obs garden moth-traps going whilst we're away on holiday. Having found wireless access we should be able to keep posting brief updates each day until normal service resumes on Friday.

26th July

The Bill area today: 2 Willow Warblers, a Whimbrel and a Common Sandpiper on the land and 25 Common Scoter, 5 Balearic Shearwaters and a Mediterranean Gull through on the sea.

Immigrants in the Obs garden moth-traps this morning: 13 Silver Y and singles of Diamond-back Moth, Rush Veneer and Dark Sword Grass.

25th July

The Bill area today: 7 Willow Warblers and a Whimbrel on the land and 5 Balearic Shearwaters, 4 Sanderling and a Common Scoter through on the sea.

Immigrants/wanderers in the Obs garden moth-traps this morning: 17 Silver Y, 2 Rusty-dot Pearl, 1 Rush Veneer, 1 Dark Sword Grass and 1 Webb's Wainscot.

24th July

The Bill area today: 7 Cormorants heading high south and 5 Manx Shearwaters, 3 Balearic Shearwaters and 3 Common Scoter through on the sea.

Immigrants in the Obs garden moth-traps this morning: 18 Silver Y, 8 Rush Veneer, 5 Dark Sword Grass and 2 Diamond-back Moth.

23rd July

Quite a bit more variety today although still nothing in any great quantity. At the Bill there were first records for the autumn of Wheatear (2) and Willow Warbler, along with 20 Sand Martins overhead and 9 Common Scoter, 5 Balearic Shearwaters, 3 Manx Shearwaters, a Black-headed Gull and a Guillemot through on the sea. Ferrybridge chipped in with 8 Black-tailed Godwits, 4 Mediterranean Gulls and a Hobby.

Immigrant interest remained at a very low-key level in the Obs garden moth-traps, with the overnight catch totalling 24 Silver Y, 9 Rush Veneer and singles of Diamond-back Moth, Rusty-dot Pearl, Hummingbird Hawk-moth and Small Mottled Willow.

Please note that unless we unexpectedly find some wireless internet access whilst away on family holiday there'll be no more updates to the site until 31st July.

22nd July

Still no sign of any major change in the current unsettled weather conditions but at least today stayed relatively dry. At least 1 Yellow-legged Gull was at the Bill, where seawatching produced 8 Common Scoter, 3 Balearic Shearwaters and a Guillemot.

Immigrants in the Obs garden moth-traps this morning: 20 Silver Y, 5 each of Diamond-back Moth and Rush Veneer, 3 Rusty-dot Pearl and 1 Small Mottled Willow.

 

   

       intermedius/fuscus and graellsii Lesser Black-backed Gulls - Portland Bill, 21st July 2009 © Martin Cade

...there's been a fair turn over of passage Lesser Black-backs at the Bill during the last month or so but today's intermedius/fuscus is the only obviously non-British bird to show up thus far. 

  21st July

Back to wet and increasingly windy conditions again today. The seawatching was surprisingly uneventful, with nothing more than 9 Common Scoter, 2 Balearic Shearwaters, 2 Whimbrel and 2 Arctic Skuas passing through off the Bill during the morning, whilst the only report from the land was of 3 Sand Martins passing overhead at the Bill.

We had high hopes for overnight moth-trapping at the Obs, but in the event the only immigrants caught were 15 Silver Y, 10 Rush Veneer, 2 Diamond-back Moth and a Rusty-dot Pearl.

20th July

In finer and less windy conditions than yesterday there was certainly hope that a few 'proper' autumn migrants might show up (it's about time that the first Willow Warblers and the like were putting in an appearance) but in the event pretty well all the reports were of seawatching at the Bill that produced 14 Balearic Shearwaters, 10 Manx Shearwaters, 10 Whimbrel, a Black-headed Gull and a Guillemot. The only other news was of 10 Dunlin at Ferrybridge.

The Obs garden moth-traps remained very quiet, with just 3 Silver Y the only immigrants caught.

 

   

  

    Knot and Sanderling - Ferrybridge, 19th July 2009 © Pete Saunders

  19th July

Two Whimbrel were settled at the Bill but the only other news from there was of seawatching that produced 50 Manx Shearwaters, 16 Common Scoter, 6 Balearic Shearwaters, 3 Guillemots (the local breeding population of the latter have now vacated the cliffs so these and any seen in the next few weeks are likely to be wanderers from elsewhere) and another Whimbrel. Elsewhere a small influx of waders at Ferrybridge included 10 Sanderling, 5 Dunlin and 2 Knot; 2 Mediterranean Gulls were also there and a Yellow-legged Gull was amongst loafing large gulls on Chesil Beach.

Immigrants in the Obs garden moth-traps this morning: 3 Silver Y and 1 Rush Veneer.

18th July

The sea continues to provide nearly all the interest (...or is it just that there seems to have been so little on the land this summer that nobody can be bothered to look properly there at the moment?) with watches at the Bill through the morning producing 200 Manx Shearwaters, 62 Common Scoter, 9 Balearic Shearwaters, 3 Whimbrel and a Yellow-legged Gull. The only other news was of a lone Sand Martin passing overhead at the Bill.

It was still much too windy overnight to have expected much reward from the Obs garden moth-traps and the only immigrants logged were singles of Rusty-dot Pearl, Rush Veneer and Silver Y.

 

   

  

    Black-headed Gulls and Little Egret - Portland Bill, 17th July 2009 © Martin Cade

...you can usually rely on grotty weather to produce a few unexpected sightings and today chipped in with the very unusual sight of some Black-headed Gulls grounded on the Bill Common and a Little Egret that first dropped on to the Obs pond and later settled in trees at both the Obs and Culverwell.

  17th July

A truly grim day of heavily overcast skies, frequent showers and a blasting westerly wind - welcome to the English summer! Ten Common Scoter and 2 Balearic Shearwaters, together with a handful of Manx Shearwaters, passed through off the Bill and 4 Black-headed Gulls, a Little Egret and a Whimbrel were at the Bill.

Immigrants in the Obs garden moth-traps this morning: 12 Silver Y, 3 Rush Veneer, 2 Diamond-back Moth and 1 Hummingbird Hawk-moth.

 

   

    Bedstraw Hawk-moth - Portland Bill, 16th July 2009 © Martin Cade

  16th July

The sea again provided most of the interest at the Bill, where 37 Common Scoter, 33 Manx Shearwaters, 8 Balearic Shearwaters, a Yellow-legged Gull and a Sandwich Tern passed by and 7 Cormorants left high to the south. The only reports from the land were of 5 Sand Martins passing overhead at the Bill and 4 Mediterranean Gulls at Ferrybridge.

An unexpected flurry of immigrants and wanderers perked up interest in the Obs garden moth-traps, with 5 Diamond-back Moth, 2 Silver Y and singles of Rush Veneer, Rusty-dot Pearl, Palpita vitrealis, Bedstraw Hawk-moth, Slender Brindle, Bordered Straw and Cream-bordered Green Pea caught overnight.

 

   

  

 Yellow-legged Gull and Garden Tiger - Portland Bill and Southwell, 15th July 2009 © Martin Cade

...we don't usually pay much attention to aberrations of moths and butterflies but the rather fine Garden Tiger with reduced brown markings from Debby Saunders' moth-trap at Southwell was particularly striking.

  15th July

With the fresh breeze of yesterday evening having strengthened overnight to something approaching gale force most attention was paid to the sea, with the Bill returning totals of 127 Manx Shearwaters, 18 Common Scoter, 6 Balearic Shearwaters and 5 Dunlin through the morning. The only reports from the land there were of 2 Yellow-legged Gulls and a Whimbrel, whilst elsewhere there were 10 Dunlin, a Sanderling and a Mediterranean Gull at Ferrybridge.

A lone Silver Y was the only immigrant attracted to the Obs garden moth-traps overnight.

 

   

Common Tern - Portland Harbour, 13th July 2009 © Martin Cade

  14th July

A slightly longer list today, with the Bill area producing 2 Whimbrel and a Knot on the land and 85 Manx Shearwaters, 48 Common Scoter, a Balearic Shearwater and a Mediterranean Gull passing through on the sea.

The Obs garden moth-traps were again pretty quiet, with 9 Diamond-back Moth, 2 Silver Y, a Rush Veneer, a Dark Spectacle and a Painted Lady butterfly being the only immigrants/wanderers recorded.

 

   

  

  

Common Sandpiper and Langmaid's Yellow Underwing - Portland Harbour and Portland Bill, 13th July 2009 © Martin Cade

...such has been the struggle for photo opportunities in recent days that we've even resorted to an anaesthetized moth today. Among the small backlog of moths to check out from recent days we finally got round to having a look at what seemed to be a likely first Langmaid's Yellow Underwing of the year from last Friday (10th July); the forewing shape/pattern had looked good and a quick dose of Ethyl Acetate revealed that the hindwing and underside patterns, whilst not being the best we've ever seen, looked to be OK for janthina.

  13th July

Another day with very little to report: 13 Manx Shearwaters and 5 Common Scoter passed through off the Bill and 2 Common Sandpipers were at Portland Harbour.

Immigrants/wanderers in the Obs garden moth-traps this morning: 3 Rush Veneer and singles of Diamond-back Moth and Cream-bordered Green Pea.  

12th July

The fact that it was dry and sunny after yesterday's deluge was about the only redeeming feature of what was otherwise another very quiet day. The only reports were of 5 Manx Shearwaters and a Great Skua through on the sea at the Bill and a lone Sand Martin heading south overhead there.

In dismal conditions overnight the only immigrant attracted to the Obs garden moth-traps was a single Silver Y.

11th July

In really dreary conditions, with drizzle eventually turning to heavy rain, the only reports were of seawatching at the Bill which produced just 20 Common Scoter and singles of Manx and Balearic Shearwater.

10th July

The only migrants in any numbers were Common Scoter, with 46 passing through off the Bill during the morning; singles of Manx Shearwater and Whimbrel also passed by on the sea, whilst singles of Dunlin and Common Sandpiper were logged on the land and a few early departing Swallows headed south out to sea.

Immigrants in the Obs garden moth-traps this morning: 12 Diamond-back Moth, 3 Dark Sword Grass, a Rush Veneer and a Silver Y.

 

   

House Martin - Southwell, 9th July 2009 © Paul Baker

  9th July

Another extremely mediocre return from the Bill today: 7 Common Scoter and a Manx Shearwater through on the sea and 6 Sand Martins passing through overhead. The only other reports were of 2 Dunlin, 2 Mediterranean Gulls and 2 Sand Martins at Ferrybridge.

The moths were no better than the birds with 11 Diamond-back Moth, 3 Silver Y and 2 Rush Veneer the only immigrants/wanderers in the Obs garden traps this morning.

 

   

Yellow-legged Gull - Portland Bill, 8th July 2009 © Martin Cade

...a different individual to the one at the Bill a couple of days ago.

  8th July

A pleasantly warm and sunny day once some early cloud cover had cleared through. Another Yellow-legged Gull dropped in at the Bill, where there also 2 Common Sandpipers and a Curlew on the land and 100 Manx Shearwaters and 7 Common Scoter through on the sea. The only other news was of 2 Mediterranean Gulls at Ferrybridge.

Immigrants/wanderers in the Obs garden moth-traps: 25 Diamond-back Moth, a Dark Sword Grass and a Cream-bordered Green Pea.

 

   

Black Redstart - Southwell, 7th July 2009 © John Lucas

  7th July

The Black Redstart was again at Southwell (although today visiting a garden a couple of hundred yards from yesterday's location), 3 Whimbrel and a Common Sandpiper were at the Bill and small numbers of Manx Shearwaters and a single Balearic Shearwater passed through on the sea at the Bill. 

A dismal immigrant tally in the Obs garden moth-traps included nothing more than 13 Diamond-back Moth, a Dark Sword Grass and a Silver Y.

 

   

  

Yellow-legged Gull - Portland Bill, 6th July 2009 © Martin Cade

  6th July

Quite a change in the weather today although it was still quite pleasantly warm in between the frequent heavy showers that were being blown through on a strengthening westerly wind. Seawatching at the Bill produced a steady trickle of Manx Shearwaters, 5 Common Scoter, a Balearic Shearwater and a Great Skua, the first Yellow-legged Gull of the summer was at the Bill, odds and ends at Ferrybridge included 33 Black-headed Gulls, 2 Dunlin and a Whimbrel and there was an unseasonable Black Redstart at Southwell.

Considering the strength of the wind immigrant numbers weren't too bad in the Obs garden moth-traps this morning: 55 Diamond-back Moth, 6 Silver Y, 3 Rush Veneer, a Dark Sword Grass, a Small Mottled Willow and a Cream-bordered Green Pea.

Late news for Saturday 4th: a Serin was in Top Fields at the Bill early in the evening.

5th July

A tiny bit more about at the Bill today, with the most noteworthy sightings being of a Grey Wagtail and a Redstart on the land and 4 Balearic Shearwaters through on the sea. More routine fare there included a Whimbrel passing overhead, 9 Manx Shearwaters and 8 Common Scoter passing through on the sea and up to 25 commic terns feeding offshore (distant feeding parties of commic terns have been an increasingly frequent sight offshore in the last few weeks although we often haven't bothered to mention them in the daily summary; we presume they're some of the Lodmoor breeding birds although if that is the case it represents a change for them as they usually feed in Weymouth Bay or off Chesil Beach.

Immigrant moth numbers continued to drop off, with just 10 Diamond-back Moth, 6 Silver Y and 1 Rush Veneer in the Obs garden traps this morning.

 

   

Cosmopterix pulchrimella - Portland Bill, 4th July 2009 © Martin Cade

...back to local specialities. This alarmingly small but very beautiful micro is a relatively recent arrival at Portland - it was first discovered on the island in autumn 2006 - but larval mines are now found quite plentifully on Pellitory-of-the-Wall; adults can be found close to the foodplant and small numbers are regularly caught in the Obs garden moth-traps.

  4th July

A fly-over Spotted Redshank was the bird of the day at the Bill, where a Curlew also passed though and 22 Common Scoter, 3 Manx Shearwaters and 3 Sandwich Terns were logged on the sea.

Immigrants/wanderers in the Obs garden moth-traps this morning: 68 Diamond-back Moth, 8 Silver Y and singles of Rush Veneer, Buff Footman, Dark Sword Grass, Bordered Straw, Cream-bordered Green Pea and Beautiful Hook-tip.

3rd July

Just a few minor snippets from the Bill so far today: a few Swifts were leaving out to sea, 2 Lapwings were new arrivals on the land and 7 Common Scoter, 2 Manx Shearwaters, 2 Sandwich Terns and a lone Balearic Shearwater passed through on the sea.

In fresher, breezier conditions the selection of immigrants/wanderers attracted to the Obs garden moth-traps overnight was a little less interesting than in recent nights: 206 Diamond-back Moth, 3 Rush Veneer, 3 Silver Y, 2 Bird-cherry Ermine, 2 Water Veneer and singles of European Corn-borer, Evergestis extimalis, Cream-bordered Green Pea and Dark Spectacle.

 

   

  

Mediterranean Gull & Dunlin and Wood Carpet - Ferrybridge and Portland Bill, 1st July 2009 © Paul Baker (Mediterranean Gull & Dunlin) and Martin Cade (Wood Carpet)

...the Wood Carpet was another of yesterday's moths. We were having trouble convincing ourselves that it wasn't a Common Carpet but today Phil Sterling kindly confirmed that it really is a Wood Carpet. The species was reported to be present on the island in Victorian times but the only record in the modern era concerns a specimen light-trapped at Church Ope Cove in 1974.

  2nd July

The only reports of any interest were of 3 Dunlin and 3 Mediterranean Gulls still at Ferrybridge, a few commic and Sandwich Terns lingering off the Bill and 4 Common Scoter passing through on the sea.

Immigrants/wanderers in the Obs garden moth-traps this morning: 278 Diamond-back Moth, 3 Bird-cherry Ermine, 2 True Lovers Knot and singles of Tachystola acroxantha, Brown China-mark, European Corn-borer, Rush Veneer, Tawny-barred Angle, Buff Footman, Small Mottled Willow and Dark Spectacle.

 

   

  

Gymnancyla canella and Blackneck - Portland Bill, 1st July 2009 © Martin Cade 

  1st July

The Obs garden moth-traps again provided most of the interest today. A Blackneck was a first record for the island, whilst singles of Gymnanclya canella and Mere Wainscot were the best of the rest of the overnight catch that also included 1224 Diamond-back Moth, 7 Silver Y, 6 Rush Veneer, 5 Endothenia quadrimaculana, 3 Bird-cherry Ermine, 3 European Corn-borer, 3 Dark Sword Grass and singles of Zeiraphera isertana and True Lovers Knot.

On the bird front there were 3 Dunlin and 3 Mediterranean Gulls at Ferrybridge, a Whimbrel at the Bill and 17 Common Scoter, 10 Manx Shearwaters and 4 Black-headed Gulls passed through on the sea at the Bill.