13th September

There was certainly some bafflement as to why today didn't come up with the goods: a seemingly perfect overnight mix of the New Moon, a pre-dawn rain shower and south-easterly winds created plenty of expectation but generated next to nothing by way of an arrival of routine migrants, with few species getting beyond single figure totals at the Bill. A Wryneck that showed up in Top Fields did provide some compensation but there wasn't anything else out of the ordinary on the ground and just a Golden Plover and a late Swift of note amongst the limited passage overhead. The sea was hardly any better with just 4 Balearic Shearwaters through off the Bill.

The immigrant moth situation continued to improve, with the overnight catch at the Obs including a year peak to date of 70 Rush Veneers; a single Latticed Heath was the scarcest immigrant there, whilst another Convolvulus Hawk-moth was the best of the catch at West Grove Terrace.




Wryneck and Latticed Heath - Portland Bill, 13th September 2015 © Mark Eggleton (Wryneck-top), Duncan Walbridge (Wryneck-bottom) and Martin Cade (Latticed Heath)