With the remains of Hurricane Kirk just about visible on the far southern horizon it was a considerable surprise that today's weather was so quiet, pleasant and eminently birdable. Maybe with the passage of this weather system in mind migrants weren't exactly making the most of clear skies to pour south but 400
Meadow Pipits, 200
Pied Wagtails, 140
Linnets, 85
Goldfinches, 65
Chaffinches, 32
Skylarks and 18
Siskins were fair little tallies over the Bill, where
Swallows for the most part baulked at the sea-crossing and lingered in the low hundreds all afternoon, a single
Cattle Egret passed through and, curiously, some
Raven movement was evident with 14 heading through high overhead in various directions. With the exception of some good patches of
Chiffchaffs - most cover around the centre of the island was dripping with them - grounded totals weren't so impressive: 5
Yellow-browed Warblers and singles of
Ring Ouzel,
Black Redstart and
Jay in the Thumb Lane/Avalanche/Weston Street area and 2
Firecrests and a
Grasshopper Warbler at the Bill were nice and there were welcome signs everywhere of a few
thrushes and
Reed Buntings beginning to show up, but amongst the absentees there wasn't a single report of a
Goldcrest anywhere. The light and increasingly offshore breeze didn't favour the sea: more than 150
Mediterranean Gulls were lingering off the Bill but 4 passing
Balearic Shearwaters were the only 'proper' seabirds worth a mention there.
Good catch of 88 Swallows boosted the day's ringing total at the Bill to 155 - the highest so far this month; 20 Bcaps and 13 CCs - the former surely being missed in quantity by the fieldworkers - the only other double figure totals; first 2 Redwings of the autumn + Gropper and Reed W also of note..
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— Portland Bird Observatory (@portlandbirdobs.bsky.social) October 9, 2024 at 10:24 PM
...weirdest ringing event was the catching at Culverwell of an already-ringed Blue Tit that it turns out has strayed from Ian Dodd's garden at Littlesea, Weymouth (first ringed there in January). Blue Tits ringed here have gone to N Dorset & Hants but we've never before caught one ringed elsewhere
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— Portland Bird Observatory (@portlandbirdobs.bsky.social) October 9, 2024 at 10:33 PM
Migrant moth nos plummeted during the last two nights of grotty weather - two nights on one page in the notebook is always a bad sign - but the first Flame Brocade of the autumn nice to see amongst the residents
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— Portland Bird Observatory (@portlandbirdobs.bsky.social) October 9, 2024 at 10:41 PM
