Serins have been tricky to catch up with this spring and today's bird was no exception: it appeared unannounced, called continually for the two minutes or so that it was settled in a treetop at the Obs and then launched into the sky never to be seen again. Where do all the Serins that drop in like this at the Obs end up? Nowhere else on Portland, let alone elsewhere in Dorset, records Serins at anything remotely like the frequency with which they turn up here - surely they can't all just be crossing the Channel for fun or for something to do for a couple of hours and then immediately re-crossing it back to France © Martin Cade:
Today's Serin also reminded us of another that was one of the many things that we got late with a couple of weeks ago when the sudden surge in migrants halted any desire we might have had to spend time looking at a screen. This bird was heard on the afternoon of the big Spot Fly surge on 22nd May - it was singing strongly from a leafy tree in the Obs front garden but, since it remained completely invisible until it must have slipped away, there was reluctance on the part of the observers to fully claim it; fortunately, a phone recording of it clinches the ID beyond doubt © Jodie Henderson:
Despite a huge full moon and relatively breezy conditions moth numbers and variety seem finally to be picking up: the first 'local special' of the year - this Four Spotted - was trapped overnight at the Obs...
...where quite a few of the summer 'pretties' like this freshly emerging Scarlet Tiger are also now appearing...
...however, immigrant interest is almost non-existent with this Delicate from last night the only minor oddity in recent days © Martin Cade:
