5th August

A note for Obs members: by the end of last week we'd finished posting out our 'annual' reports so all should have been received by now; since the report actually covered two years it was sent to everyone who'd been a member at anytime during 2019 and 2020. If you were a member during this period and haven't received a report do please let us know - we've already been notified of several address changes and the like and are sure there'll be other issues still to clarify with some memberships. Many thanks.

A little bit of everything today although the sea proved to be disappointingly unproductive in the mix of showers and gusty southwesterlies that had set in by mid-morning. Early brightness had allowed for some mist-netting that revealed a Reed Warbler amongst a few Sedge and Willow Warblers at the three Bill ringing sites; the only other land coverage was of Ferrybridge where there were respectable totals of 92 Ringed Plovers and 14 Curlews amongst the wader selection. The sea quickly looked quite enticing once the wind got up but sporadic watches at the Bill came up with no more than 6 Balearic Shearwaters amongst the slow trickle of routine passage on offer.

Yesterday's moth-traps provided us with yet another addition to the island list: a Daisy Bent-wing Bucculatrix nigricomella at the Grove...

...Despite a designation of 'Rare and local resident' in Dorset we wouldn't mind betting that this Ox-eye Daisy feeder is a good deal more widespread than the relatively few county records suggest: it's a tiny moth that's best sought in its early stages rather than as an adult; the adults are apparently also not particularly frequent visitors to light-traps © Martin Cade