4th October

Tougher conditions today left the day list struggling to get off the ground. Just as the seawatching at the Bill was becoming more of a wave watch, a Sooty Shearwater added some much needed variety; a Great Northern Diver also passed by there and 5 Pale-bellied Brent Geese through at Portland Harbour were the only other birds of note over the water. The strength and direction of the wind and the driving rain left few sheltered areas to check on the land: the Obs garden was still home to a Spotted Flycatcher and a handful of Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps, with low single figures of Wheatears elsewhere at the Bill seen as a little more than a white flash being whipped away in the wind; a lone Short-eared Owl also arrived in off the sea at the Bill. Elsewhere, a single Siskin was clinging to the conifers in Southwell and the high pitched call of a Firecrest could just be heard over the squeaking, scraping branches at Thumb Lane.