24th August

As is so often the case, today's scarcity interest arrived under conditions that for whatever reason saw passage of common migrants grind to a near halt, indeed a sum total of 4 Blackcaps, 2 Willow Warblers and a Garden Warbler had been the only new birds ringed before a Barred Warbler duly appeared at Culverwell. The rest of the day was a bit of a write-off, with the autumn's first flyover Siskin, a Spotted Flycatcher and a Whimbrel the only other sightings of note from around the Bill. Sea passage was poor, with just 35 Kittiwakes, 3 Shelduck, 2 Manx Shearwaters and a Great Skua logged at the Bill. 

Although not a huge surprise since the first few of the autumn have been turning up elsewhere, today's Barred Warbler was actually considerably earlier than average for Portland although still a fortnight later than the earliest ever that was trapped and ringed on 10th August 1978 © Nick Hopper:

The Cowes Torquay powerboat race passing the Bill is always a bit of a spectacle on August Bank Holiday Sunday and sometimes causes consternation amongst the likes of rafts of over-summering Balearic Shearwaters; sadly, this year's edition saw the sea bereft of interest and our intrepid photographer wasn't able to capture anything other than a Great Black-backed Gull in the same frame as one of the boats! © Nick Hopper: