18th October


   Comet A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) over the Obs yesterday evening © Guy Edwardes guyedwardes.com

Today's long and varied list might give the impression of it being a bit of a ripper of day but in reality it was a day of multiple frustrations, with few of the scarcer migrants being appreciated by a wide audience. The first Pallas's Warbler of the autumn that showed up at Avalanche Road vanished just as quickly as it had been glimpsed, a Common Rosefinch passed straight through overhead at the Bill and none of the day's 4 Yellow-browed Warblers proved easy to pin down. Under mainly clear skies visible passage accounted for the bulk of the day's numbers, with 6000 Wood Pigeons, 710 Linnets, 355 Jackdaws, 200 Meadow Pipits, 180 Goldfinches, 170 Chaffinches, 110 Pied Wagtails, 53 Siskins, 31 Skylarks and an assortment of lower totals including a single Woodlark through over the Bill. On the ground, a typical October miscellany included 3 Ring Ouzels at Penn's Weare and singles of Merlin, Black Redstart and Firecrest at the Bill, with a noticeably arrival of Wrens and late singles of Whinchat, Reed Warbler and Garden Warbler also of note there; commoner migrants weren't well-reported from the centre of the island but arrivals of 25 each of Blackcap and Chiffchaff at the Bill suggested there would have been plenty to have got amongst in the better quality cover elsewhere. Mediterranean Gulls continued to dominate off the Bill where 920 headed west, presumably having left roost in Weymouth Bay; 90 Common Gulls, 2 Arctic Skuas, a Balearic Shearwater and a Yellow-legged Gull also passed by there.

Not such good overnight mothing conditions at the Obs but still a fair number of migrants on the wing incl a Toadflax Pearl catalaunalis - from underneath you can see how the previous vernacular, Spanish Dot, was quite appropriate.

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— Portland Bird Observatory (@portlandbirdobs.bsky.social) October 18, 2024 at 3:44 PM