Despite the overnight arrival of mild air there was no upturn in immigrant moth numbers, with 27 Rusty-dot Pearl and singles of Diamond-back Moth, Rush Veneer and Delicate constituting the tally at the Obs.
Red-breasted Flycatcher - Portland Bill, 16th October 2104 © Martin Cade
...this individual was a lot more vocal than last week's bird, with the plaintive 'creaky hinge' call given almost as often as the more familiar rattle:
Also today, as we were driving home in the evening we noticed what looked to be a summer-plumaged 'dark' Lesser Black-backed Gull settled with other gulls in the field below Culverwell; on stopping it was quickly apparent that the juvenile with it was also a pretty interesting-looking individual and there was just enough time to grab a few record shots before the whole flock flew off:
On reviewing the photographs this evening it looks like the adult hasn't even started its post-breeding moult which is presumably as good an indication as you're going to get that it's a Baltic Gull (and it does look quite like one in all other respects). Over the years we've seen and photographed quite a few juveniles that look more or less like this evening's individual so we'd be hesitant with suggesting this was also be a Baltic Gull, but since it looked as though the two birds were together and, plumage-wise, it looks to be OK then there must be a fair chance it is one (photos © Martin Cade)
