15th September

More lovely weather for fieldwork but even fewer migrants on offer today. A Cattle Egret overhead at the Bill that later showed up amongst livestock on Bill Hill was easily the day's highlight, with the lingering Marsh Harrier still about to provide what little other interest there was in the absence of anything more than the thinnest spread of grounded arrivals, a samey selection of waders and precious little overhead bar the first passing Siskin of autumn proper. The sea fared hardly any better, with 100 Kittiwakes, 90 auks, 12 Balearic Shearwaters, 2 Great Skuas and 2 Arctic Skuas through off the Bill.

Whilst no longer the day-salvager it would have been not too many years ago it was still an unusual sight to see a grounded Cattle Egret on the island © Martin Cade:



Ferrybridge this morning 5 Sanderling, 3 Bar-tailed Godwit, Knot, Redshank, 23 Turnstone, 30 Oystercatchers, Kingfisher

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— Debra Saunders (@debbyseamist.bsky.social) September 15, 2024 at 8:51 AM

Just testing out the Bluesky video possibilities; we did see a Hummingbird Hawk today - that hasn't by any means been an everyday event this year - but this little slowmo clip was actually filmed in the Obs garden a couple of weeks ago

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— Portland Bird Observatory (@portlandbirdobs.bsky.social) September 15, 2024 at 11:24 PM