22nd October

Plenty more clear skies and sunshine to enjoy today but, as expected, migrants numbers were nothing to get excited about. New Yellow-browed Warblers dropped in at the Obs and Pennsylvania Castle, 3 Ring Ouzels were still at the Verne and 2 Black Redstarts and singles of Hobby, Firecrest, Tree Sparrow and Yellowhammer at the Bill were worth a mention. The assortment of commoner fare on the ground and overhead included most of what would be expected but with the exception of 25 Reed Buntings at the Bill numbers were well below average for late October.

The insect highlight was a Vagrant Emperor at Gore Quarry (near the junction of Weston Street and Southwell Street); a Red-veined Darter was at Coombefield and Clouded Yellows were still on the wing at many sites. Two more Radford's Flame Shoulders and a Vestal were the pick of a surprisingly good haul of immigrants from the Obs moth-traps.

The last few years have seen a remarkable surge in Vagrant Emperor records at Portland but, since the majority of reports have been of flying insects seen just briefly, it remains a really tricky species to actually get to grips with on the island; Joe deserves a lot of credit for following up yesterday's sighting and managing to find this settled specimen a few hundred metres away © Joe Stockwell:

Yellowhammer from the mist-nets in our Stewardship crops in the Crown Estate Field © Martin Cade:

The clear skies of recent days have afforded plenty of nice photo opportunities © Martin King: