July 2010

31st July

After a murky night that included some unexpectedly heavy rain there was only a relatively small arrival of new migrants on the ground, with the Bill area returning totals of 12 Willow Warblers, 3 Wheatears, 2 Tree Pipits, 2 Whinchats and a Sedge Warbler. The sea remained worth some attention, with 49 Common Scoter, 30 Manx Shearwaters, 10 Balearic Shearwaters, 8 commic terns, 2 Sandwich Terns, an Arctic Skua and a Mediterranean Gull passing the Bill, whilst waders at Ferrybridge included 64 Dunlin, 35 Ringed Plover and 5 Sanderling.

Immigrants in the Obs garden moth-traps this morning: 13 Silver Y, 12 Rush Veneer, 4 Diamond-back Moth, 2 Dark Sword Grass and a Red Admiral butterfly.

30th July

On 

29th July

On 

28th July

Another small flurry of migrants at the Bill included a total of 80 Willow Warblers, 2 Grey Herons and 2 Wheatears, along with the welcome capture of a Cuckoo in the Obs garden mist-nets. Seawatching at the Bill produced 14 Manx Shearwaters, 13 Common Scoter, 9 Sandwich Terns and 8 Balearic Shearwaters.

27th July

Little change in the weather but fewer migrants grounded today. All the reports came from the Bill where there were 20 Willow Warblers, 3 Sedge Warblers, a Common Sandpiper, a Blackcap and a Lesser Whitethroat on the ground and 25 Manx Shearwaters, 17 Common Scoter and 2 Whimbrel passed through on the sea.

26th July

With the weather seemingly settled into a rather quiet vein with light west/north-west winds, migrants appear to be moving in good numbers now. A Marsh Harrier overhead at Ferrybridge and a Great Spotted Woodpecker in a garden at Wakeham  were the oddities of the day. At the Bill a small fall on the ground saw 100 Willow Warblers and a Sedge Warbler logged, along with 350 Swallows, 30 Sand Martins and 10 House Martins that left to the south through the day; 9 Manx Shearwaters, 2 Sandwich Terns and a Great Skua also passed through on the sea there.

25th July

Another fine day once some early fog and light rain cleared through. Migrants were not at all conspicuous, with little more than 10 Willow Warblers, and 2 Sand Martins at the Bill; seawatching there produced 32 Common Scoter, 11 Manx Shearwaters, 2 Sandwich Terns and a Great Skua.

24th July

A few more migrants dropped in today, with the list from the Bill and Southwell including 20 Willow Warblers, 3 Blackcaps, a Curlew, a Grasshopper Warbler and a Sedge Warbler. Seawatching at the Bill produced 33 Common Scoter, 20 Balearic Shearwaters and 6 Manx Shearwaters.

 

    

    Great Spotted Woodpecker - Portland Bill, 23rd July 2010 © Martin Cade

     23rd July

On a lovely still and warm day there were welcome signs of autumn passage picking up. Rarity interest was provided by a Quail that was heard singing briefly at the Bill during the morning and a Great Spotted Woodpecker that spent a while in and around the Obs garden, whilst more expected migrants included 400 Swallows heading south over Ferrybridge and the first 10 or so Willow Warblers (click here to listen to a recording of one calling in the Obs garden this morning) scattered around at the Bill and Southwell. The rest of the day's sightings included 104 Dunlin, 22 Sanderling, 8 Mediterranean Gulls and a Whimbrel at Ferrybridge, 20 Sand Martins, 2 Common Sandpipers, a Yellow-legged Gull and a Wheatear on/overhead at the Bill and 100 Manx Shearwaters, 3 Balearic Shearwaters, 2 Sandwich Terns and a Great Skua through on the sea at the Bill.

Immigrant moth numbers picked up quite conspicuously at the Obs, where 118 Diamond-back Moth, 35 Silver Y, 27 Rush Veneer, a Rusty-dot Pearl and a Dark Sword Grass were caught overnight in the moth-traps.

 

Please note that for the next week updates to the site may be late/non-existent depending on internet access whilst we're away on holiday.

 

    

    

    Herring Gull - Portland Bill, 22nd July 2010 © Martin Cade

...another Channel-hopper spotted in the Bill car park this morning: this bird was first ringed at Chouet landfill site, Guernsey, on 6th June 2009; the only subsequent report of it - until today - also came from Guernsey where it was re-trapped at Vale Marais on 10th May this year (as usual, thanks to Paul Veron Guernsey Gulls for his typically speedy response with the life history of this bird).

     22nd July

The first Cuckoo of the autumn was the best of the sightings at the Bill, where 20 Sand Martins, a Grey Heron, a Turnstone and a Redshank were on/overhead on the land and 34 Common Scoter and 3 Manx Shearwaters passed by on the sea. Elsewhere, a Wheatear at north Portland and quite an increase in waders at Ferrybridge included totals of 70 Dunlin, 29 Sanderling and 2 Redshank.

Immigrants in the Obs garden moth-traps this morning: 22 Rush Veneer, 3 Silver Y and 1 Diamond-back Moth.

 

    

   

    Little Terns and Dunlin/Sanderling flock - Ferrybridge, 21st July 2010 © Pete Saunders

     21st July

The return of clear and sunny conditions saw a bit of an improvement in the birding. Sand Martins again got moving, with 50 passing through at the Bill, but there was still no sign of, for example, warbler passage getting going; the only other reports from the land were of a Yellow-legged Gull grounded at the Bill and 41 Dunlin, 14 Sanderling and 10 Mediterranean Gulls at Ferrybridge. Seawatching at the Bill produced 32 Common Scoter, 14 Manx Shearwaters, 3 Balearic Shearwaters, 3 Great Skuas, an Arctic Skua and a Mediterranean Gull.

Overnight moth-trapping was much quieter than yesterday, with 9 Rush Veneer, 4 Silver Y and 3 Diamond-back Moth the only immigrants in the Obs garden traps.

 

    

    Dewick's Plusia - Southwell, 20th July 2010 © Debby Saunders

     20th July

Not much sign of the weather settling down at the moment: today remained quite muggy but thick fog rolled in early in the morning and eventually there was quite a bit of rain in the evening. The day's reports on the bird front consisted of 14 Common Scoter and a Whimbrel passing through off the Bill, a Grey Heron heading south over the Bill and 35 Dunlin, 15 Mediterranean Gulls, 7 Sanderling, 5 Sandwich Terns, 3 Whimbrel and a Redshank settled at Ferrybridge.

The highlight of the overnight moth-trapping was a Dewick's Plusia (the sixth record for Portland) in a garden at Southwell; immigrants in the Obs garden traps included 32 Rush Veneer, 18 Silver Y, 6 Diamond-back Moth, 2 Dark Sword Grass, 2 Dark Spectacle, a Rusty-dot Pearl and a Latticed Heath.

 

    

    Mere Wainscot - Portland Bill, 19th July 2010 © Martin Cade

     19th July

A very hot, sunny day once a bit of early cloud cleared away. Departing migrants at the Bill included 30 Sand Martins, a Whimbrel and a Wheatear, whilst 26 Common Scoter passed by on the sea there.

A Mere Wainscot (the sixth record for Portland) was the pick of an otherwise rather uninspiring overnight catch of moths in the Obs garden traps; 3 Rush Veneer, 2 Dark Spectacle and a Slender Brindle were the only other immigrants/strays recorded.

 

    

    Village Weaver and nest - The Grove, 18th July 2010 © Peter Hames

     18th July

A much nicer day than expected with, surprisingly, quite a lot more on the move on the sea than during the stormy spell last week. All the reports from the Bill were of seawatching, which produced 426 Manx Shearwaters, 23 Common Scoter, 4 Balearic Shearwaters and singles of Whimbrel, Great Skua, Pomarine Skua and Arctic Skua; 3 tardy Puffins were also still present there. The only other news concerns the escaped Village Weaver that we first mentioned a couple of weeks ago: although originally visiting a garden at Fortuneswell we'd heard that it had subsequently relocated to the Grove, from where the latest news of it is that it's now building a nest!

Immigrants/wanderers in the Obs garden moth-traps this morning: 3 Rush Veneer, a Crescent and a Red Admiral butterfly.

 

    

    Olive - Portland Bill, 17th July 2010 © Martin Cade

...an unexpected capture, particularly as its sister-species - Double Kidney - turned up only a few nights ago. Among the other overnight captures in the moth-traps the thyme-feeder Coleophora lixella is an attractive local speciality that we see quite often at this time of year:

   

...and a this well-marked Buff Ermine was noteworthy:

  

     17th July

A few Sand Martins took advantage of a window of fairer weather to get moving at the Bill where 23 headed off out to sea and a few more lingered over the fields but otherwise the reports from there were much as in recent days, with 23 Manx Shearwaters, 2 Balearic Shearwaters and a Mediterranean Gull passing through on the sea and a Yellow-legged Gull grounded on the land. 

The third island record of Olive was the pick of the overnight moth catch at the Obs, where a single Phycita roborella was the only other stray recorded.

 

    

    Lesser Black-backed Gulls and Yellow-legged Gull - Portland Bill, 16th July 2010 © Martin Cade

...we did promise to reduce our Yellow-legged Gull coverage and the juvenile on the right only really figures because it was in the same field of view as the juvenile Lesser Black-back on the left. In the last couple of years our earliest date for a juvenile Lesser Black-back was 5th August, and they're not usually at all numerous before the middle of August. Lesser Black-backs don't breed at all at the Bill and there are only the odd breeding pairs elsewhere on the island so we'd guess that this independent youngster is probably an early migrant from further afield.

     16th July

With the fierce wind only very gradually abating most of the reports were again from the sea, with 67 Manx Shearwaters, 14 Common Scoter, a Balearic Shearwater and a Mediterranean Gull passing through off the Bill. On the land 2 Yellow-legged Gulls were at the Bill, the Crossbill was seen once during the morning in the Obs garden and 20 Dunlin, 15 Mediterranean Gulls and a Sanderling were at Ferrybridge.

 

        

    Crossbill - Portland Bill, 14th July 2010 © Martin Cade

...a bit more on the Crossbill:

   

    We managed to get a few recordings of the bird calling - click here to have a listen to one sequence where it's perched and then takes flight - and Magnus Robb has kindly confirmed that these calls identify it as a Glip (type C) Crossbill (the commonest and most widespread crossbill).

   

   

Crossbill moult is extremely complex and variable (note, for example, the presence of what looks like three generations of feathers in the wing of this individual: newish secondaries 1 to 5, older primaries and an even older secondary 6) but it seems to be safe to say that at this time of year (although not later in the autumn) the absence of streaky plumage and white terminal fringes to the greater and median coverts preclude the possibility of the bird being a juvenile; in the hand it had a conspicuous brood patch which further backed up our ageing/sexing of it as an adult female.

  15th July

Unseasonably stormy today. The Crossbill remained in the Obs garden, a Yellow-legged Gull was at the Bill and seawatching there produced 42 Manx Shearwaters, 14 Common Scoter, 5 Balearic Shearwaters, 5 Great Skuas, 5 Dunlin, 3 Whimbrel, 3 Mediterranean Gulls and a Little Gull. Elsewhere there were 10 Dunlin, 2 Sanderling and 2 Mediterranean Gulls at Ferrybridge. We've also received an update from the Little Tern wardens at Ferrybridge, who report that as of yesterday 5 chicks had fledged from 11 breeding pairs, with 4 pairs still on eggs in the colony; in terms of productivity this makes the current season the most successful there for 16 years.

 

    

   

   

   

  Balearic Shearwater, Crossbill and Double Kidney - Portland Bill, 14th July 2010 © Martin Cade

  14th July

An unexpectedly good day. The weather - brisk southerlies with showers threatening from time to time through the morning - didn't look too promising but in the event there was a decent selection of birds along with a new moth for the island. The best of the birds was a Crossbill that made frequent visits through the morning to a nut feeder in the Obs garden; also at the Bill 6 Yellow-legged Gulls (all juveniles) were grounded and 65 Manx Shearwaters, 46 Common Scoter, 3 Balearic Shearwaters and a Whimbrel passed through on the sea. 

The new moth for the island was a Double Kidney caught overnight in the Obs garden moth-traps; 13 Silver Y, 2 Diamond-back Moth and singles of Rush Veneer, Hummingbird Hawk-moth, Dark Sword Grass and Beautiful Hook-tip made up the rest of the tally of immigrants/strays.

 

    

   

Yellow-legged Gull - Portland Bill, 13th July 2010 © Martin Cade

...we've done juvenile Yellow-legged Gulls to death on the site in recent years so we probably won't dwell on them so much this year now that we've posted photos of the first arrival of the summer. In the last couple of summers the first juvenile Yellow-legged Gulls have appeared in the area well before the first local juvenile Herring Gulls have fledged, but this year young Herring Gulls have already been on the wing for nearly a week - we photographed the bird below at Ferrybridge last Wednesday:

    

  13th July

After a quite wet night the day started foggy and remained overcast throughout. A minor flurry on the land included 2 Crossbills at the Bill, where there were also 15 Black-headed Gulls, 4 Common Sandpipers, 3 Curlew, 3 Yellow-legged Gulls, 2 Whimbrel, a Ringed Plover and a Redshank. Once the fog had cleared 20 Common Scoter, 15 Manx Shearwaters, a Balearic Shearwater, a Mediterranean Gull and a Sandwich Tern passed by on the sea at the Bill.

Six Silver Y, 3 Diamond-back Moth and 3 Rush Veneer were the only immigrants in the Obs garden moth-traps this morning.

12th July

Another day when the sea came up with nearly all of the noteworthy sightings, with watches at the Bill producing 35 Common Scoter, 16 Manx Shearwaters, 3 Mediterranean Gulls, 2 Balearic Shearwaters, a Curlew  and a Yellow-legged Gull (also, although the majority of the breeding auks have now left the area Puffins are still being seen daily at the Bill). The only report from the land was of 3 Sand Martins through at the Bill.

Immigrants and strays in the Obs garden moth-traps this morning: 6 Rush Veneer, 3 Cream-bordered Green Pea, 2 each of Rusty-dot Pearl, Dark Sword Grass and Silver Y, and singles of  Diamond-back Moth, Phycita roborella, Crescent, Small Angle Shades, Slender Brindle and Dark Spectacle.

11th July

The land has been the poor relation just recently and on another hot, sunny day the only reports from there were of 5 Mediterranean Gulls at Ferrybridge. Seawatching at the Bill produced 24 Common Scoter, 5 Manx Shearwaters, 3 Balearic Shearwaters, 2 Arctic Skuas and a Mediterranean Gull.

Immigrants/wanderers in the Obs garden moth-traps this morning: 4 Rush Veneer, 2 each of Diamond-back Moth and Silver Y and singles of Dark Sword Grass, Slender Brindle and Cream-bordered Green Pea.

10th July

The only reports so far today have been of 3 Manx Shearwaters and a Mediterranean Gull through on the sea at the Bill.

Odds and ends by way of immigrants/wanderers in the Obs garden moth-traps this morning included 2 Rush Veneer and singles of Diamond-back Moth, Buff Footman and Cream-bordered Green Pea.

 

 

The next In Focus field event at the Obs takes place between 10am and 4pm tomorrow, Sunday 11th July. 

 

 

    

   

   

Black-tailed Godwits and Village Weaver - Ferrybridge and Fortuneswell, 9th July 2010 © Pete Saunders (godwits) and Ian Hunter (weaver)

     9th July

The sea provided the bulk of the day's sightings, with 34 Manx Shearwaters, 8 Common Scoter, 6 Mediterranean Gulls, 3 Black-headed Gulls, a Whimbrel and a SandwichTern passing through off the Bill; elsewhere 2 Sand Martins were at the Bill and 15 Dunlin, 6 Black-tailed Godwits and 4 Mediterranean Gulls at Ferrybridge. Also of interest, a Village Weaver was present in a private garden at Fortuneswell.

Immigrants/wanderers in the Obs garden moth-traps this morning: 3 Rush Veneer and singles of Hummingbird Hawk-moth, True Lovers Knot and Dark Sword Grass.

8th July

With the exception of an early (or late?) Wheatear at the Bill the day's reports were entirely routine: 30 Common Scoter and 2 Manx Shearwaters through on the sea at the Bill and 18 Dunlin at Ferrybridge.

Moth-trapping was as uneventful as the birding, with 2 Silver Y and a Hummingbird Hawk-moth the only immigrants caught overnight in the Obs garden traps.

 

    

   

   

Mediterranean Gull and Small Seraphim - Ferrybridge and Portland Bill, 7th July 2010 © Martin Cade

     7th July

Overcast today with a spell of fog and drizzly rain during the morning. On the bird front the only reports were of 2 Common Sandpipers and a Blackcap at the Bill, 17 Dunlin and 2 Mediterranean Gulls at Ferrybridge and 43 Common Scoter and 3 Manx Shearwaters through on the sea at the Bill.

Despite pitiful numbers of immigrant moths showing up in the moth-traps (today's tally at the Obs consisted of just 2 Silver Y and a Dark Sword Grass) there have been a surprising number of decent records to show for recent mothing effort, with the island's second record of Small Seraphim at the Obs being the best of the bunch today.

 

    

   

   

Chalkhill Blue, Slow-worm and Convolvulus Hawk-moth - East Weare and Portland Bill, 6th July 2010 © Emma Cockburn (Chalkhill Blue and Slow-worm) and Martin Cade (Convolvulus Hawk-moth)

     6th July

A slightly longer list today, with the pick of the bunch being a Serin that was heard calling overhead at Southwell on a couple of occasions during the morning. Well over 100 Sand Martins lingered/passed through at the Bill during the morning, where 2 Chiffchaffs and a Reed Warbler (click here to listen to a recording of this presumably late migrant in song) were logged on the land and 55 Common Scoter, 5 Manx Shearwaters, a Mediterranean Gull and a Sandwich Tern passed through on the sea; elsewhere there was a Blackcap at Southwell. Also there was good news from Ferrybridge where yesterday the first young Little Tern of the year fledged (the first successful fledging from the colony since 2006).

Overnight moth-trapping at the Obs produced a couple of surprises in the form of another Splendid Brocade and the first Convolvulus Hawk-moth of the year; other immigrants/species of local interest included singles of Diamond-back Moth, Dark Sword Grass and Clancy's Rustic.

 

    

Black-tailed Godwits - Ferrybridge, 5th July 2010 © Paul Baker

     5th July

A Hobby at the Bill was a little unexpected at this time of year but the rest of the reports from there were entirely routine: a Sand Martin through overhead and 34 Manx Shearwaters, 30 Common Scoter and a Black-headed Gull through on the sea. Elsewhere there were 5 Black-tailed Godwits and 3 Dunlin at Ferrybridge.

Singles of Diamond-back Moth, Water Veneer, Rusty-dot Pearl, Dark Sword Grass, Pearly Underwing, Delicate and Dark Spectacle made up the immigrant/wanderer tally in the Obs garden moth-traps this morning.

4th July

On an increasingly breezy day pretty well all the reports were from the sea: a Roseate Tern lingered for a while with feeding Common Terns off Chesil Cove during the morning and 83 Common Scoter, 30 Manx Shearwaters, 2 Great Skuas and 2 Sandwich Terns passed through off the Bill.

Immigrants/wanderers in the Obs garden moth-traps this morning: 2 Rusty-dot Pearl and singles of Diamond-back Moth, Zeiraphera isertana, Rush Veneer, Delicate, Dark Spectacle, Cream-bordered Green Pea, Marbled White-spot and Beautiful Hook-tip.

 

    

Splendid Brocade - Portland Bill, 3rd July 2010 © Martin Cade

     3rd July

The return of cloudless skies saw a small flurry of departing migrants that included 5 Grey Herons, 4 Sand Martins, a Whimbrel and a Grey Wagtail at the Bill and singles of Whimbrel and Common Sandpiper at Ferrybridge.

In fresher conditions overnight moth numbers dwindled considerably in the Obs garden traps but the second island record of Splendid Brocade was a notable highlight; other immigrants/wanderers caught included 2 Rusty-dot Pearl and singles of Diamond-back Moth, Marbled White-spot, Oak Nycteoline and Silver Y.

 

    

   

  Sand Dart and Lunar-spotted Pinion - Portland Bill, 2nd July 2010 © Martin Cade

...and after yesterday afternoon's minor Puffin-fest we returned to the West Cliffs in the evening and jammed into our best ever views of a Portland Puffin when one pitched onto the cliffs for a few seconds just below our viewpoint (photo © Martin Cade):

   

     2nd July

Some quite heavy overnight rainfall that lasted on through the morning produced nothing of note on the land. Odds and ends through on the sea at the Bill included 15 Common Scoter, 9 Manx Shearwaters an Arctic Skua and a Sandwich Tern.

In excellent overnight mothing conditions a nice arrival of infrequently-recorded species in the Obs traps included singles of Endothenia quadrimaculana, Zeiraphera isertana, Dioryctria abietella, Sand Dart, Lunar-spotted Pinion and Oak Nycteoline; more routine immigrants there included 5 Silver Y, 2 Rusty-dot Pearl, 2 Dark Sword Grass, a Diamond-back Moth and a Hummingbird Hawk-moth.

 

    

   

   

Puffins - Portland Bill, 1st July 2010 © Martin Cade

...we've noticed before that the few Puffins left at the Bill are often most visible right at the end of the breeding season and a series of good fly-pasts today culminated in the extraordinary sight of three settled together on the cliffs (in upmteen years of looking we've only ever seen Puffin settled on the cliffs on a handful of occasions).

Yesterday saw our first colour-ringed gull sighting of the summer. Paul Veron has kindly let us know that this Lesser Black-back was cannon-netted and ringed at Chouet landfill site, Guernsey, just over a month ago on 28th May (and hadn't been seen again there or anywhere else until yesterday). 

   

   

You'd think that on plumage this individual ought to be an intermedius but if it is then it's a bit of a surprise that it appears to be summering in the English Channel (photos © Martin Cade)

  1st July

Most of the day's reports were of seawatching at the Bill, where 9 Manx Shearwaters, 3 Common Scoter and singles of Whimbrel, Great Skua and Arctic Skua passed by. Elsewhere an Arctic Skua flew over the Little Tern colony at Ferrybridge.

Singles of Dark Sword Grass and Silver Y were the only immigrants in the Obs garden moth-traps this morning.