A quite different sort of day to yesterday saw heavy cloud overhead for the duration and
Pied Wagtails,
Meadow Pipits,
thrushes and
finches to the fore on the migrant numbers front. Another
Yellow-browed Warbler - this one at Southwell - was the best of the oddities, with the first
Ring Ouzel of the autumn at the Bill, a
Dartford Warbler at Suckthumb and a
Green Sandpiper at Broadcroft of further note. Numbers-wise, it was visible migrants that dominated, with 1500
Linnets, 1000
Meadow Pipits, 360
alba wagtails and 250
Goldfinches tip-of-the-iceberg totals at the Bill where far more birds on the move way out over the sea had to be left unidentified. On the ground,
thrushes were quite conspicuous for the first time this autumn, off-passage flocks of
Meadow Pipit and
Linnet totalled into four figures at the Bill and
Blackcaps were numerous around the centre of the island but the like of
Chiffchaff hardly featured.
It's taken Yellow-browed Warblers quite a time to trickle down as far as Portland but judging by reports from elsewhere there'll be plenty more to come in the next few weeks © Martin Cade:
Although their autumn passage is as good as over a few Grey Wagtail spend the winter on Portland - we'd guess that today's bird feasting on leatherjackets at Southwell was most likely one of these winterers © Nick Stantiford:
In contrast, Ring Ouzel passage is only just beginning, with this bird the first to show up at the Bill © Martin Cade:
