22nd September

Whatever it was that we were supposed to have done to drum up some scarce interest made no difference again today and, the lingering Rosy Starling aside, the island remained resolutely free of oddities; that said, with heavy cloud cover having completely changed the character of the day there was always a positive vibe that hinted at something being about to come out of the woodwork. Grounded migrants were rather less conspicuous than they had been under sunnier skies but the evidence from the mist-nets suggested there was certainly a fair bit about, with Chiffchaff and Blackcap both up around the 50 mark at the Bill; out in the open, Stonechats were visibly a lot more numerous than of late as the first wave of autumn migrants showed up. Overhead passage was subdued although did feature a good showing from alba wagtails - most by the look of it now Pieds. A second Little Stint joined the long-stayer at Ferrybridge where the Grey Plover also lingered on.

Wheatear and the Little Stints at Ferrybridge this morning © Pete Saunders:




Moth-wise, the current couple of nights have been talked up as likely to be favourable for a bit of moth immigration as the hot spell finally breaks down. Last night did indeed see a modest increase in numbers, amongst which this Blair's Mocha was a nice capture at the Obs; although seemingly becoming established here and there close to the South Coast this former quality rarity is still a very infrequent arrival at Portland - this was only our tenth record © Martin Cade:


Also in the moth line, this wonderfully cryptic Wormwood larva was a nice find further up the island - the moth itself is a tolerably regular visitor to traps throughout the island but the larvae are altogether more of a challenge to spot © Tim Norriss: