31st August

A different feel today with a really brisk northeasterly having sprung up overnight and increasing cloud spilling in as the day went on. Visible migration was quite a spectacle for a while, with hirundines (mainly Swallows today) streaming through into the wind over anywhere that was being watched - sample counts suggested more than 2000 per hour were passing through into the wind at times during the morning. Most of the other expected late August over-flyers were well-represented, with oddities on the move that included a Marsh Harrier (additional to the lingerer that was still about) and a selection of other commoner raptors, along with the likes of a Green Sandpiper; a variety of other new waders dropped in, including 10 Knot, 2 Whimbrel, a Redshank and a Common Sandpiper at Ferrybridge. The sky might be filled but the bushes and the fields weren't: there were a handful of new Whinchats, Redstarts and Pied and Spotted Flycatchers dotted about but commoner warblers were conspicuously few and the likes of Wheatears were no more than thinly spread. Shearwaters remained a feature offshore, where upwards of 200 Balearics were ever-present off the Bill; Manx weren't quite so numerous today, whilst 75 departing Lesser Black-backed Gulls, 5 likely Black Terns, 2 Arctic Skuas and a Yellow-legged Gull were amongst the other movers there.

Yellow Wagtail and Spotted Flycatcher at the Bill today - the wagtail is colour-ringed and is evidently a bird from Salisbury Plain (the lettering on the colour-ring couldn't be made out so if anyone's about tomorrow do keep an eye out for this bird and see if you can get a decent view of it) © Steve Mansfield:

An interesting little event we've got involved with just lately has been the appearance of an unusual bug around the Obs garden. We don't 'do' bugs in any systematic way but last year we begun catching in the moth-traps specimens of something that was very distinctive but unfamiliar that we assumed would be a colonist from inland that we just hadn't had any previous experience of. This year they've continued to appear from time to time and word of their occurrence reached various bug specialists who quickly realised they were something hitherto unknown in Britain - it's also transpired that before we'd started seeing them at Portland John Gifford had caught one in a moth-trap in Weymouth in 2022; subsequently, we've caught specimens in the moth-trap in our garden at the Grove so we've no reason to suppose the bug isn't already widely established around Portland and perhaps elsewhere.

With its retrousse rear end this little bug's rather eye-catching and quite unmistakable; evidently it's a flatid planthopper of the genus Cyphopterum - this genus has a mostly Mediterranean distribution and none of the numerous species within it are known from Britain:

Leafhopper specialists, Mike Wilson and Alan Stewart, became aware of these events and travelled to the Obs this week to see if they could find the bug in the field and discover something about its habits - this they managed to do in quick time when it was found in quantity on ragwort around the Obs garden. No doubt the bug's identity will be established before long but in the meanwhile thanks to Mike, Alan, Dan Houghton and Tristan Bantock for their help in getting this far with the matter © Martin Cade:

Despite a much stiffer northeasterly a fair catch of migrant moths at the Obs last night: 2 Mugwort Pearl sticticalis first this year; 6 vitrealis, 4 Porter's Rustics, 2 amplana, 1 Convolvulus Hawk best of the rest. Local specials incl late-ish Four Spotted

[image or embed]

— Portland Bird Observatory (@portlandbirdobs.bsky.social) Aug 31, 2024 at 8:59

30th August

Summer's returned with a vengeance over the few days and while the numbers of grounded migrants have been far from impressive it's at least been a pleasure to get amongst what has arrived in lovely quiet conditions and warm sunshine. Today's clear, blue sky had looked very raptor-friendly from the outset and duly produced a Honey Buzzard that looked to arrived in off the sea at the Bill before continuing northward to at least Weston; the long-staying Marsh Harrier was also enjoying the conditions and was an almost constant presence at the Bill through the morning, The other surprise, given the offshore breeze, was another really strong movement of shearwaters off the Bill, where an absolute minimum of 3000 Manx and 215 Balearics passed by in quick time. Migrant-wise, it was a day of variety rather than numbers, with 75 Yellow Wagtails, 30 Tree Pipits, 30 Wheatears, 15 Swifts and 10 Grey Wagtails the only non-hirundine double figure totals from the Bill; 3 Pied Flycatchers, 2 Redstarts, a Grasshopper Warbler and a Whinchat were the best of the less-regulars. Ferrybridge continued to tick over, with 2 Common Sandpipers the pick of the waders and flock of 30 Cormorants heading away west also of note. Shearwaters aside, the sea didn't come up with much beyond 2 Great Skuas, 2 Arctic Skuas and a Teal. 

Always a fine sight over Portland, the Honey Buzzard looked to be a adult male © Duncan Walbridge:

The Marsh Harrier was also enjoying the sunshine and was in view nearly every time we did a round of the mist-nets in the Crown Estate Field © Martin Cade:

Variety increasing on the ringing front even if numbers remain low: 44 birds of 20 species today. 10 Willow Warblers the only double figure total; 2 each of Tree Pipit & Pied Flycatcher + singles of Grey Wagtail, Whinchat &Grasshopper Warbler the best of the less regulars.

[image or embed]

— Portland Bird Observatory (@portlandbirdobs.bsky.social) Aug 30, 2024 at 23:39

Not exactly a sight of great beauty but seems to be becoming the new normal: total of 8 Porter's Rustics from the Obs moth-traps overnight

[image or embed]

— Portland Bird Observatory (@portlandbirdobs.bsky.social) Aug 30, 2024 at 13:42

Last night's Obs moths: apart from the Porter's Rustics, migrants incl 28 noctuella, 13 ferrugalis, 10 Silver Y, 7 vitrealis, 1 Scarce Bordered Straw, 1 Convolvulus Hawk. Plenty of nice local specials about too incl season's first Feathered Brindle + 2nd brood Samphire Knot-horn & Yellow Belle

[image or embed]

— Portland Bird Observatory (@portlandbirdobs.bsky.social) Aug 30, 2024 at 15:39

29th August

Unbroken sunshine and a westerly breeze weren't the conditions to expect an arrival on the ground but overhead passage was steady, with hirundines moving as opposed to lingering as they had been yesterday: departing Swallows numbered well up around the 500 mark and outnumbered Sand Martins by 4 to 1; oddly, House Martins hardly featured after their excesses yesterday; Tree Pipits, Grey and Yellow Wagtails were all more prominent than of late although in totals still far below what might be expected in late August. Nothing was at all numerous on the ground but the likes of the long-staying Marsh Harrier and 2 Grasshopper Warblers at the Bill, a Pied Flycatcher at Bowers Quarry and a Yellow-legged Gull at Ferrybridge provided little morsels of interest amongst the more mundane fare. Shearwaters continued to pass in some quantity, particularly early in the morning when 1350 Manx and 140 Balearics were logged at the Bill, along with 200 Mediterranean Gulls and 2 Arctic Skuas.

We haven't been able to spend a lot of time on gulls just lately but there are still a few young Yellow-legged Gulls popping up from time to time - through a combination of moult and wear they're now looking very different to how they looked when they first arrived in July; this was one of two at Ferrybridge yesterday evening:

Good numbers of Lesser Black-backs are also about - many of them are active migrants departing to the south but there are plenty like this swarthy youngster also at Ferrybridge yesterday evening just sitting about taking it easy © Martin Cade:

A moth that immediately caught our eye in this morning's moth-traps (in fact there was a second individual when we got to another of the traps) was this apparent Hoary Footman. We do have quite a few records of this species but they're mostly from quite a few years ago and, since we find the differentiation between this species and worn specimens of the commoner Scarce Footman to sometimes be really tricky, we do fret that we're overlooking a few Hoarys: 

Anyway, this specimen looked the part and a check of the hindwing - off-white as opposed to yellow - did nothing to dispel that belief. We'll likely retain one of the two so we can check for absolute sure but certainly something to look out for in island moth-traps in the next few days if there's a bit of an arrival of them afoot (there were 4 Porter's Rustics and a miscellany of other scarce-ish migrants in the traps as well so we guess the Hoarys have arrived from the continent) © Martin Cade

28th August

Today was a bit of a surprise package: despite apparently promising-looking conditions at dawn with plenty of cloud in the sky and a weather front not too far to the west, grounded and overhead migrants looked to again be few and far between; however, a strong passage of hirundines developed by mid-morning that saw gatherings of up to 1000 House Martins, 400 Swallows and 250 Sand Martins develop over the Bill and elsewhere, with some significant passage of all three also occurring well out over the sea. What relatively few other migrants were about did include a trickle of the usual wagtails and pipits overhead everywhere, and 2 Reed Warblers and singles of Grey Heron, Marsh Harrier (the long-staying lingerer), Snipe, Whimbrel, Garden Warbler and Pied Flycatcher at the Bill and 2 Yellow-legged Gulls at Ferrybridge. The sea remained worth attention, with 120 Kittiwakes, 110 Mediterranean Gulls, 80 Balearic Shearwaters, 60 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, 2 Great Skuas and an Arctic Skua through off the Bill.

Topsy-turvy ringing day at the Bill: literally more ringers than birds for a few hours after dawn before a big passage of hirundines developed that saw 232 House Martins, 74 Sand Martins and 27 Swallows ringed. Final total of 363 (+ a UK control Whitethroat) ringed is this year's highest to date.

[image or embed]

— Portland Bird Observatory (@portlandbirdobs.bsky.social) Aug 28, 2024 at 23:23

27th August

A day that was at least enjoyable for the return of summer-like conditions after all the recent turbulence but, sadly, was far from memorable on the birding front. A notable exception was a Caspian Gull that showed up during the evening at Ferrybridge, but migrant numbers remained woefully low with warblers of any sort remarkably conspicuous absentees. Dribs and drabs of overhead movement at the Bill included 200 Swallows and 75 Sand Martins, along with single figure totals of Yellow Wagtail, Grey Wagtail and Tree Pipit but no grounded arrivals there even managed a double figure total; minor quality came in the form of 4 Grey Herons, 4 Common Sandpipers and a lingering Pied Flycatcher at the Bill, the lingering Marsh Harrier around the centre of the island, a Whinchat at Reap Lane and a Pied Flycatcher at Bowers Quarry. Wader numbers remained steady at Ferrybridge, although only 8 Sanderlings and 2 Knot provided interest amongst the regulars. The sea provided some entertainment immediately after dawn when 100 Manx Shearwaters, 52 Balearic Shearwaters, 2 Sooty Shearwaters and 2 Arctic Skuas passed by off the Bill.

An almost windless dawn was an overdue pleasure © Martin Cade:

The Ferrybridge Caspian Gull © Thomas Miller:

And one we forgot yesterday - a notably short-billed juvenile Whimbrel at Ferrybridge © Pete Saunders:

The moth-traps revealed a small overnight uptick in migrant activity but for us the highlight was a nice specimen of the Blackthorn Blister Moth Lyonetia prunifoliella; although recently re-establishing itself across southern England after a long absence this remains a rare visitor to our moth-traps: we still have fewer than 10 records in total since our first in 2018 and despite searching the copious amounts of blackthorn in the vicinity of the Obs we haven't managed to find the characteristic blister-like leaf mines of the early stages - perhaps our records just involve strays from further afield? © Martin Cade:

Modest catch of 24 Sand Martins gave the day's ringing total a little bit of respectability - 53 birds of 15 species; 6 Grey Wagtails from Culverwell a notable total. Remarkably, the total included just 4 warblers - singles of Willow, Sedge, Blackcap and Whitethroat - an all-time low for this date?!

[image or embed]

— Portland Bird Observatory (@portlandbirdobs.bsky.social) Aug 27, 2024 at 23:42

26th August

A deafening silence overhead at dawn - at a juncture when Tree Pipits and Yellow Wagtails ought to be filling the sky - brought a rapid realisation that passerine passage hadn't perked up today; the sea fared almost as poorly with a gradual easing of the wind strength seeing to it that passage there dwindled away quite quickly. The pick of the land sightings at the Bill were singles of Grasshopper Warbler and Pied Flycatcher on the ground and a measly 5 Yellow Wagtails, 4 Tree Pipits and a Merlin overhead; another 2 Pied Flycatchers were at Thumb Lane and the long-staying Marsh Harrier was still about - today largely in the Barleycrates Lane/Weston area. Wader turn-over looked to have ground to a halt, with little change in numbers or variety at Ferrybridge. A steady post-dawn movement of 145 Mediterranean Gulls, 120 Manx Shearwater, 65 Kittiwakes and 41 Balearic Shearwater evident off the Bill wasn't sustained and a single Sooty Shearwater through there in the evening was the only other sea sighting of note.

Two species we should have been seeing and hearing so much more of today - Tree Pipit © Martin Cade and Yellow Wagtail:

This juvenile Yellow Wagtail is No.65 on the list of species I have ringed at Culverwell, small copse about 300 metres north of Portland bird obs, since I started in November 2018. @portlandbirdobs.bsky.social #birdringing

[image or embed]

— Mark Cutts (@slashercutts.bsky.social) Aug 26, 2024 at 11:22

This flagged Sandwich Tern was at Ferrybridge yesterday - thanks to Steve Dodd for letting us know so promptly that it was ringed as a chick at Cemlyn Bay, Anglesey, on 20th June 2022; later that summer - between 15th and 25th July - it wandered to the River Clywd, Formby and Walney before returning to the River Clywd, but this Ferrybridge sighting is the first since then © Pete Saunders:

Still the most pitiful of rewards on the ringing front: just 10 bird ringed - and 3 of those weren't even summer migrants! - between the Obs, the Crown Estate Field and Culverwell

[image or embed]

— Portland Bird Observatory (@portlandbirdobs.bsky.social) Aug 27, 2024 at 0:18

25th August

A little better on all fronts today although the only oddity left it until late when a Great Shearwater passed by off the Bill amongst a steady movement of some hundreds of Manx and a few Balearic Shearwaters that developed as the wind freshened late in the afternoon; including these birds, the day's sea totals included more than 500 Manx and 26 Balearic Shearwaters, 92 departing Great Black-backed Gulls and 70 departing Lesser Black-backs, 17 Arctic Terns and an Arctic Skua. Waders were on the up again, with 250 Ringed Plovers, 3 Sanderling, 3 Knot and a Black-tailed Godwit in the mix at Ferrybridge, and 3 Ringed Plovers, 2 Turnstones, a Whimbrel and a Common Sandpiper through at the Bill. Passerine passage picked up a little - although it was only a little! - with 16 Yellow Wagtails, 2 lingering Pied Flycatchers, a Tree Pipit and a Grey Wagtail easily the best on offer at the Bill where singles of Little Egret and Merlin also passed through.

24th August

 A very underwhelming start to the bank holiday weekend, with a long downpour through the hours of darkness seemingly again putting a complete block on passerine passage. With no more than single figure totals of the commoner migrants uncovered it was left to a lone Pied Flycatcher at Ladymead to salvage some minor interest from the land. Waders were more numerous, with 15 Black-tailed Godwits, 6 Sanderling and 2 Knot the best on offer at Ferrybridge. The wind very quickly veered into the northwest once the rain cleared and the only offshore movement of note concerned 100 Manx and 16 Balearic Shearwaters through off the Bill.

23rd August

Whilst Portland was always peripheral to Storm Lilian its influence put the block any resumption in passerine migration and the rapidly veering breeze after dawn more or less stopped sea passage dead. What odds and ends were garnered from the sea included nothing better than 26 Balearic Shearwaters, 8 Arctic Terns, 2 Arctic Skuas and a Great Skua through off the Bill, whilst the only worthwhile grounded migrant there was a likely lingering Pied Flycatcher. Three Sanderlings, 2 Knot and 2 Whimbrel were the only waders of note at Ferrybridge.

22nd August

It's fair to say that the prevailing turbulent conditions are getting pretty tiresome - it'd be OK if they were coming up with the goods but today's returns again fell a good deal shy of expectations given the fierce southwesterly that blew for the best part of the day and the preceding night. At the Bill, c500 Manx Shearwaters, c100 Balearic Shearwaters, 14 Arctic Skuas, 3 Cory's and 2 Sooty Shearwaters, and a single Storm Petrel (...why do we really struggle for seawatch Storm Petrels these days?) were the chief rewards from all-day coverage; Chesil Cove chipped in with similar-ish numbers that may or may not have involved many of the same birds, whilst away from the main watchpoints an Arctic Tern passed through at Ferrybridge.

Balearic Shearwater and Kittiwake off the Bill © Mike Trew:

The Ferrybridge Arctic Tern © Pete Saunders:

Amongst the Manx Shearwaters it was interesting to see several that were in quite heavy moult - conventional wisdom has it they shouldn't be in this state until mid-winter so it's presumed that they're immatures or non-breeders © Mike Trew:

21st August

Just ticking over at a very low level today, with a late in the day Cory's Shearwater through off the Bill easily the highlight. Passerine interest at the Bill was pretty limited, with 30 Yellow Wagtails, 3 Tree Pipits, 2 Reed Warblers and a Pied Flycatcher the best amongst a few routine late August regulars; the lingering Marsh Harrier was also still about the island, popping up at least once at Blacknor. Waders fared little better, with 3 Knot newcomers at Ferrybridge. The Cory's Shearwater aside, the sea was relatively quiet, with no more than 40 Balearic Shearwaters logged off the Bill where a lone Great Skua also passed by.

These two Knot that came and went in quick time at Ferrybridge were poor compensation for another no-show by the American wader that surely must be on the cards for there right now © Pete Saunders:

This evening, by virtue of an after-tea run over to Lodmoor, we had a little flashback to a golden age of Weymouth birding in the late 70s and early 80s when it was possible during August to work the sedge beds on Lodmoor and chivvy out an Aquatic Warbler or two, count the multiples of Wood Sandpipers there - we forget which year it was but probably about 1977 when we logged Wood Sandpiper on every day during the month (up to a peak of eight if we remember rightly) and then cycle in to Radipole after tea to see the two or three Spotted Crakes that'd be showing nightly on the margins of the acres of mud exposed out from the old wooden bridge. Anyway, those halcyon days are long gone and Spotted Crake is now a sufficiently high-value bird that even one permitting no more than long-range views merits a trip over to Weymouth © Martin Cade:

20th August

Always a tad too breezy today, with the strength of the wind overnight seemingly having put the block on a lot of routine migration. What did drop at the Bill included by way of variety 3 Pied Flycatchers and 2 each of Grasshopper Warbler and Spotted Flycatcher; another Pied Flycatcher was Thumb Lane and the lingering Marsh Harrier ducked about between Barleycrates Lane and the Bill. The first Great Shearwater of the autumn was a perhaps expected highlight from the sea at the Bill where it and most of the other passing seabirds remained frustratingly distant in the clear conditions; Manx and Balearic Shearwaters numbered in the low dozens each but 4 Arctic Skuas were the only other birds of note offshore.

19th August

Back on track today - although in view of the week's forecast that mightn't be a situation that's sustained - with the heavily overcast skies of dawn dropping a fair little selection of migrants that included 20 Tree Pipits, 5 Pied Flycatchers, 2 Grasshopper Warblers and singles of Water Rail, Merlin, Lesser Whitethroat and Spotted Flycatcher at the Bill; 2 Marsh Harriers roamed the centre and south of the island and 2 Greenshank and a Knot were amongst the wader selection at Ferrybridge. The sea continued to provide plenty of interest, with at least 120 Balearic Shearwaters still off the Bill; 800 Gannets through off there was easily their highest total of the year to date, whilst 41 departing Lesser Black-backed Gulls, 3 Arctic Skuas, 2 Little Egrets and a Great Skua provided further sea interest.

18th August

A much lower-key day than had been hoped after migration looked have been picking up. Grounded arrivals at the Bill consisted of 20ish spreads of both Wheatear and Willow Warbler, with a similar total of Tree Pipits overhead, but variety was limited with singles of Marsh Harrier there and over Weston easily the best of a bad job. Waders were more numerous but 3 Sanderlings and a Knot at Ferrybridge and 2 Redshanks, a Whimbrel and a Snipe at the Bill provided the only worthwhile variety. Balearic Shearwaters just made a three-figure total off the Bill, where 200 Mediterranean Gulls, 80 Manx Shearwaters, 2 Arctic Skuas and singles of Cory's Shearwater, Sooty Shearwater and Great Skua were also logged.

The nice little run of Marsh Harriers in recent days included this one today over Weston © Duncan Walbridge:

For the simple reason that we didn't see any at the Bill, we forgot to mention yesterday the onset of Blackcap autumn passage with eight in the Coombefield area; it's a peculiar feature of their autumn passage that the centre and north of the island is enormously more favoured over the Bill area - it's not at all unusual on a day of autumn fieldwork to encounter no more than ones and twos at the Bill before later finding many dozens during a visit to any of the areas of suitable thick cover north of Southwell © Duncan Walbridge:

17th August

As befits progress through August so variety continued to increase today, with Bar-tailed Godwit and Whinchat new for the season amongst a small flurry of arrivals on the land, Tree Pipit passage gathering momentum overhead and Balearic Shearwaters firmly back offshore in quantity. In lovely warm and quiet conditions the grounded and overhead numbers were far from huge but did include at the Bill 80 Sand Martins, 35 Tree Pipits, 25 Willow Warblers, 2 Pied Flycatchers and singles of Merlin, Marsh Harrier, Grey Wagtail and Garden Warbler; at Ferrybridge the Bar-tailed Godwit joined the currently slightly diminished numbers of commoner waders. Balearic Shearwaters piled through off the Bill for a while after dawn when 370 headed east in quick time before later some of these or others lingered offshore; 150 each of Manx Shearwater and Mediterranean Gull, 28 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, 7 Arctic Skuas and 2 Great Skuas also passed by or lingered and a party of 20 Shags was the largest recorded so far this autumn.

Today was a Tree Pipit kinda day - nice! © Martin Cade:

The second Marsh Harrier at the Bill in two days...

...with no moult in the flight feathers this one was a juvenile although that fact was easiest to ascertain from the upperwing where the greater coverts were pale-tipped giving almost the look of it having a tiny wing-bar © Martin Cade:

This Bar-tailed Godwit at Ferrybridge was amongst the day's firsts for the season © Debby Saunders:

After such a hitherto duff summer for mothing it's been good to have finally been greeted with traps full of moths on most recent mornings. Migration's picked up and has included a fair selection of scarcities if not a real killer rare and the variety of Portland less-frequents has been good - in the last few nights the latter have included the likes of Clouded Buff, Dark Spinach and Latticed Heath © Martin Cade:

16th August

IN FOCUS SOUTH WEST Optics day this Sunday 18th August @PortlandBirdObs @DorsetBirdClub @DorsetWildlife 01225 891352 for further info @opticronuk @SwarovskiOptik @ZEISSBirding @hawkeoptics @VortexOpticsUK hoping for a Cory's or Sooty Shearwater pic.twitter.com/WHa3PPYyKv

— IN FOCUS SOUTH WEST (@MortimerKe93304) August 15, 2024

After the miserable conditions of the last few days today's sunshine, warmth and waft of a breeze were welcome indeed - as well as being surprisingly productive. The day's really unexpected event was a short, sharp and spectacular movement of small shearwaters off the Bill an hour after dawn when c5000 Manx and c500 Balearics passed through in barely more than three quarters of an hour; such was the speed, volume and breadth of the movement - as well as the sheer surprise involved in as much as it developed without any warning and in the most benign of conditions - that it could only be quantified by rapid-fire sample counts but with Manx at consistently around 100 per minute and Balearics peaking at 67 in 5 minutes the overall estimates seem likely to be a pretty accurate reflection of the true numbers involved. With no more than a single Sooty Shearwater - along with 2 Arctic Skuas - tagging along it looks like large shearwaters have vacated local waters for the time being. Passage on the land was tame by comparison but interesting-enough nonetheless: Wheatear and Willow Warbler both topped out around the 30 mark at the Bill, where 6 Yellow Wagtails, and singles of Marsh Harrier, Merlin, Reed Warbler and Garden Warbler were amongst the back-ups; there was evidence from the mist-nets of Robin passage getting going as well. 

Although of only mildly esoteric interest, the Marsh Harrier over the Obs drew attention to how careful you have to be with interpreting photographs. When it was called we took the briefest of looks at it and then just blasted off a few photographs to have a look at later; it looked rather uniformly dark and we assumed it was bound to be a juvenile. In fact we kept assuming it was a juvenile even whilst looking through the photos until we got to the very last one of the 16 taken in which it had obviously pitched over a little bit and completely changed how the light fell on one of the wings - this revealed obvious moult going on in the primaries that clearly showed it couldn't be a juvenile (they won't be moulting their flight feathers until next year). On looking back more critically at the earlier photos it was possible to see, for example, the slight bulge in the secondaries where the new feathers are longer than the old feathers but this was really pretty subtle and easy to overlook when there was barely any colour-contrast visible between the old and new feathers. An interesting little lesson in how an apparently decent photograph - in fact 15 in this case! - isn't necessarily telling the whole story © Martin Cade:

15th August

With a stiff southwesterly building through the day and increasing cloud and damp setting in today was always going to be a seawatch day and the rewards were fair if not spectacular. Quantifying the happenings off the Bill wasn't at all straightforward with Balearic and Manx Shearwaters a constant and seemingly lingering presence offshore but c100 of each was an absolute minimum; 2 Sooty Shearwaters and at least 1 Cory's Shearwater might be thought a poor return in the current circumstances, whilst even Arctic Skuas weren't easy to get a handle on, what with their lingering for extended periods, but 12 seemed about right. Amongst the lower totals from the sea 5 Shoveler and a Common Gull through were oddities. Not a great deal of attention was paid to the land but Wheatears were into double figures at the Bill and a few Willow Warblers were knocking about.

Some of today's sea action: Balearic Shearwater and Kittiwake © Mike Trew...

...and Arctic Skua and Shovelers © Martin Cade:

And a bit of slow-mo of some of the Balearic Shearwaters © Martin Cade:

14th August

The damp and murk that rolled in unforecast during the last hours of the night and persisted at intervals throughout the day might have been rather unpleasant but did the trick in driving an influx of shearwaters close to shore and also dropping slightly improved migrant numbers. Balearic Shearwaters featured most strongly off the Bill where, even allowing for duplication amongst the many that lingered, their tally likely topped three figures; Manx looked to be mostly moving through rather than lingering and probably reached the same sort of total, whilst singles of Cory's and Sooty - as well as 2 distant unidentified large shearwaters - also passed by without stopping. Eight Arctic Skuas, 6 Teal and 2 Great Skuas were also logged, with Mediterranean Gulls a constant presence in high numbers. On the ground the Willow Warbler total at the Bill reached 50 for the first time this autumn but 2 Pied Flycatchers and the season's first Spotted Flycatcher were all that could be mustered by way of more interesting variety around the south of the island and a Black-tailed Godwit was as good as it got amongst the reduced wader numbers at Ferrybridge. The overcast sky put paid to much visible passage beyond a few disorientated waders until the evening when in the late clearance one lucky observer jammed an Alpine Swift passing over Ferrybridge.

Pied Flycatcher at Sweethill © Debby Saunders...

...and this morning's Black-tailed Godwit at Ferrybridge © Pete Saunders:

Mandarins are great-looking birds but ultimately - like White-tailed Eagles, White Storks and all the other rubbish that on a whim it's the vogue to chuck out into the countryside - they're plastic eye-candy that deflect attention from the dire straits that so much indigenous flora and fauna finds itself in these days. For this reason alone they hardly merit a mention here, but in the light of last week's occurrence of one on a garden pond at Sweethill we ought to relate a twist to that tale: this morning a local Facebook page drew our attention to an unfamiliar duck on the relatively recently constructed ornamental waterfowl pond below the pumping station at Southwell (the one that had Black Swans amongst other things on it earlier in the year)...

...and on going to investigate we found that it was indeed the same female Mandarin; the bird's clearly capable of flight although it remains to be ascertained whether it's been released on the pond or has just randomly turned up after straying out from the mainland - maybe none of that matters as it's just something else that the general public can coo over as they connect with nature for a few minutes before resuming whatever it is that they do to fuel the engines of nature-destructive economic growth © Martin Cade:

13th August

Although numbers remained far short of par for mid-August the presence of the first Pied Flycatchers of the autumn (3 at the Bill) and the first double figure movement of Tree Pipits overhead (including at least 15 over the Obs where the nocmig recorder had earlier logged 8 during the hours of darkness) created at least an illusion of passerine migration gathering a tiny bit of momentum. More routine fare wasn't at all well represented, with the returns from the Bill area of 20 Willow Warblers and singles of Wheatear, Sedge Warbler and Garden Warbler on the ground and 7 Yellow Wagtails and single figure totals of hirundines overhead being far from inspiring. Wader numbers and variety dropped away: both Ringed Plover and Dunlin remained well into three figures at Ferrybridge but a single Common Sandpiper was as good as it got amongst the less frequents there; the departure of the numbers and variety of recent days was further evidenced at the Bill where the nocmig recorder logged multiples of seven wader species overnight. Five Teal and 2 Common Gulls were additional non-wader oddities at Ferrybridge. A steady movement of 66 Balearic Shearwaters gave the sea totals at the Bill some respectability; 180 Mediterranean Gulls, 28 departing Lesser Black-backed Gulls and an Arctic Skua were also logged there.

After a bit of a hiatus in their passage Common Sandpiper numbers have picked up again - this one was at Ferrybridge and, after yesterday evening's big flock departing from Hamm Beach, they were also the most numerous wader passing overhead at the Bill overnight © Pete Saunders:

Any Common Gulls between mid-May and late September are worthwhile sightings so these two settled at Ferrybridge this evening were worth attention © Martin Cade:

This autumn's so far been the slowest of burners so the first Pied Flycatcher of the season was a welcome catch in the Crown Estate Field mist-nets just now

[image or embed]

— Portland Bird Observatory (@portlandbirdobs.bsky.social) Aug 13, 2024 at 7:34

Tree Pipit passage beginning to build: first double figure total of overflying birds at the Obs this mrng and the first one trapped in the Crown Estate Field

[image or embed]

— Portland Bird Observatory (@portlandbirdobs.bsky.social) Aug 13, 2024 at 9:48

A rather eclectic moth selection overnight: Dark Crimson Underwing from John Lucas' gdn at Southwell + 2 tumidana, Porter's Rustic and White-speck at the Obs were all first for the yr migrants; oddballs incl 3 Lesser Cream Waves (fewer than 10 island records) and a Latticed Heath at the Obs

[image or embed]

— Portland Bird Observatory (@portlandbirdobs.bsky.social) Aug 13, 2024 at 13:38

lots of autumn ladies at the verne common horse field and good numbers in probably better condition on the front verge about 100 metres from the obs in front of the small rental property on tother side of the road. pic.twitter.com/oqYXahuVH7

— andy (@andy33082645) August 13, 2024