Passerine migration seems to have lost a lot of momentum as this week's gone on - more's the pity since today's lingering heavy cloud cover could easily have been the cue for a decent drop of birds; in the event it was waders that fared better with a strong arrival and onward passage of in particular Ringed Plovers a feature all day. Passerines weren't entirely absent but 3
Pied Flycatchers - 2 at the Obs and another at Blacknor - were less by way of quality than might have been hoped amongst the thinnish spread of more routine fare that included 25
Willow Warblers, 10
Wheatears, 10
Sedge Warblers, 6
Yellow Wagtails and 3
Tree Pipits at the Bill, where a
Marsh Harrier also lingered for a while. The wader tally included 270
Ringed Plovers and 14
Sanderling at Ferrybridge, with more
Ringed Plovers and 7
Whimbrel overflying the Bill on occasions. From time to time small pulses of hirundines pushed through overhead but, cumulatively, numbers were nothing special. The only other grounded arrival of note was a brief
Teal at Ferrybridge. Rewards from the sea were again scant, with just 8
Balearic Shearwaters through off the Bill, but a notable oddity was a
Storm Petrel that showed up during the evening in Portland Harbour.
Some exciting overnight migrant mothing at the Obs, notably with Portland's sixth Passenger; a Toadflax Pearl catalaunalis was the first this year + a good selection of other scarces and a few more local hatches of eg dark Small Marbleds
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— Portland Bird Observatory (@portlandbirdobs.bsky.social) August 13, 2025 at 11:08 AM
The tuna off the Bill are still frustrating would-be photographers by never quite showing at their best when there's a camera pointing at them © Mike Trew:
