A thoroughly enjoyable day with some much appreciated calm, sunny weather that saw migration kick back into gear once again with the land, sea and the skies overhead getting in on the action. Around the Bill,
Wheatears were once again on the up, with many of them now seemingly Greenland/Iceland breeders. Other grounded migrants included 12
Blackcaps, 4
Sedge Warblers, 2
Whinchat, a
Snipe and a
Reed Warbler with the lingering
Pied Flycatcher making a reappearance in the Obs garden after recent unsettled weather had seen it escape detection. Whilst not quite at the magnitude hoped for in early September, overhead passage was still much improved with totals of 44
Yellow Wagtails, 29
Grey Wagtails, 6
Tree Pipits, 2
Swift and a
Curlew over the Bill. The sea saw the biggest returns for both quality and quantity, with impressive totals including a year peak to date of 217
Balearic Shearwaters, along with 140
Kittiwakes, 101
commic terns and 77
Manx Shearwaters; 7
Arctic Terns, 5
Arctic Skuas, 3
Whimbrel, the autumn's first 2
Wigeon and 2
Ringed Plover provided some nice variety. Away from the Bill, a
Hobby was settled for a while at Ferrybridge and a
Grey Phalarope lingered on at Chesil Cove.
We've been very envious of the Honey Buzzards seen over various coastal watchpoints in southeast England in recent days and fully expected our kettle of them to loom into view under today's cloudless sky; alas, any amount of sky-watching revealed just the likes of a late Swift and skeins of departing Lesser Black-backed Gulls © Martin Cade:
Decent return on all fronts marking the return of benign conditions this morning: Balearic Shearwaters got past 200 for the first time this year; good flurries of migrants on the deck and overhead
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— Portland Bird Observatory (@portlandbirdobs.bsky.social) September 5, 2025 at 9:02 AM
Rarely found in Mist-nets but today was the exception. This huge (107mm wing !) “Greenland” race Wheatear
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— Mark Cutts (@slashercutts.bsky.social) September 5, 2025 at 7:17 AM
grey phalarope doing a bit of spinning in chesil cove before gradually drifting down opposite the skate park
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— andylportland.bsky.social (@andylportland.bsky.social) September 5, 2025 at 5:24 PM
