With the land still too blown out to reveal much in the way of passerine migration, it was of some consolation that there were rewards to be had from staring out to sea, with the undoubted highlight being a juvenile Sabine's Gull settled close in off Chesil Cove. At the Bill, totals of 63 Balearic Shearwaters, 27 Kittiwakes and an Arctic Skua were the best from the morning seawatch, with a renewed pulse of movement in the evening seeing a further 175 Balearics, 45 Kittiwakes, 20 Manx Shearwaters and an Arctic Skua pass through. Elsewhere, a Pied Flycatcher remained at Culverwell, 2 Common Sandpipers were at the Bill, a Grey Phalarope joined the Sabine's Gull off the Cove and 2 Little Stints, a Curlew Sandpiper and a Yellow-legged Gull were at Ferrybridge.
The Sabine's Gull was showing very nicely at Chesil Cove © Pete Saunders (stills) and Martin Cade (video):
Whilst it helps to have a Caspian Gull afficionado in your midst - German science probably has an appealing compound word for this sort of practitioner, something along the lines of Ein Autistischenverstandfurcacchinnans - it does seem that there's some sort of cachinnans event going on since all three of today's settled birds looked to be different to the six logged over the last two days. In this series of photos the settled birds are the three individuals in the fields below Culverwell, with a flight shot of one of these - or even another? - from an earlier seawatch © Thomas Miller:
— Portland Bird Observatory (@portlandbirdobs.bsky.social) September 12, 2025 at 12:36 PMVery quiet moth-trapping at the Obs this week but still odd morsels of migrant interest incl 3 Convolvulus Hawks last night, Toadflax Pearl and Pediasis contaminella yesterday 11th and 2 Striped Hawks on Tuesday 9th
— Portland Bird Observatory (@portlandbirdobs.bsky.social) September 12, 2025 at 11:58 AM
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