3rd October

An extremely unpleasant day, with wind and rain bringing to an end a couple of weeks of rich reward on the migrant front. The only reports were from the sea, with singles of Manx Shearwater, Little Egret, Great Skua and Arctic Skua through off the Bill.

What with it being increasingly howlingly windy, overnight moth-trapping conditions weren't exactly propitious; however, the arrival of considerably milder air as the night went on brought with it a nice migrant moth highlight in the form of the island's tenth Silver-striped Hawkmoth © Martin Cade:

Talking of moths brings us on to another interesting subject, that of belated news of a first for Britain from the Obs garden moth-traps back in 2022. October of that year was tremendous for moth migration, with our records already including the first British mainland Southern Brindled Green (the only previous records had been from the Channel Islands) and the first British wild-caught Robust Tabby (the few previous records had all been from warehouses/shops); to these we can now add the first record of the pyralid, Evergestis isatidalis, that was trapped in the Obs garden on the night of 22nd/23rd October. At the time we'd identified the moth as the similar Cornifrons ulceratalis and it was seen alive by a good many moth twitchers and photographs were posted on the blog and reposted on various social media sites; since it was a first for Portland as well as being a good national rarity we eventually set the moth and it had languished in a store box until last weekend when Mark Parsons and Phil Sterling paid us a visit to check out some other specimens they had an interest in. With previous experience of ulceratalis, Mark spotted that our specimen didn't look right and photographed it for further investigation - this revealed it was in fact Evergestis isatidalis, a moth hitherto known only from countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea and from the Canary Islands:

At rest these two species are very variable and can look alarmingly similar: for example, check out the Lepiforum pages for each - isatidalis and ulceratalis. However, isatidalis is considerably larger than ulceratalis and, seemingly diagnostically, it always has a curved sub-median row of dark dots in the hindwing that's absent in ulceratalis. Many thanks to Mark and Phil for their help - both they and us have been extremely busy in recent years and we have literally years worth of set specimens of tentatively identified or wholly unidentified moths in store boxes for them to work through - watch this space for some more surprises like this! Photos @ Martin Cade.

The nets @portlandbirdobs.bsky.social remained firmly furled today as Storm Amy hit us with rain and gusts up to 48mph by evening.A good time to reflect on 12 brilliant days of ringing, good numbers and variety. Autumn Chiffchaffs always reflect a change of seasons and Wrynecks confirm the feeling.

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— Peter J Morgan (@pbo61.bsky.social) October 3, 2025 at 7:55 PM

2nd October

Despite a seemingly promising overcast sky, the gradual dwindling in migrant activity evident over recent day continued, with relatively few new grounded arrivals and no more than a modest passage overhead. The Siberian Lesser Whitethroat and Dartford Warbler remained at the Bill but singles of Whimbrel and Redstart provided the best of the interest amongst the light scatter of new Blackcaps, Chiffchaffs and Goldcrests there; elsewhere, 25 Dark-bellied Brent Geese were new in at Ferrybridge. Overhead, 215 Linnets, 42 Siskins, 7 Redpolls and a Golden Plover were the pick of the passage over the Bill, with another Crossbill also through at the Heights. Offshore, 1500 auks and 250 Mediterranean Gulls provided the numbers at the Bill, with 9 mainly lingering Arctic Skuas and a single Balearic Shearwater of further note there.

A few of the day's departers and arrivers - Whinchat and Whimbrel at the Bill and Dark-bellied Brent Geese at Ferrybridge © Andy and Gill Swash:

SSW wind with overcast did 1little for birds with 68 birds of 12 species ringed. CC 19, Gcrest 6, Meadow Pip 26, 2 Reed Bunts new. A Restart a suprise luckily for a visiting group of nature supporters on a visit to PBOn,End to days of migrant movemant comes, thanks always due to Martin & Jodie.

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— Peter J Morgan (@pbo61.bsky.social) October 2, 2025 at 10:34 PM

1st October

It was not the most auspicious of starts to October, with neither the quantity or quality of migration able to meet the lofty expectations that come with this time in the birding calendar. Cloudier conditions saw overhead passage ease off slightly, with reduced totals of 300 Meadow Pipits, 45 'Alba' Wagtails, 27 Siskin, 22 Chaffinch, 17 Skylark, 14 Redpolls, 5 Ravens and a Hobby departing the Bill, with a noticeable absence of hirundines compared to recent days; elsewhere, 14 more Ravens and a Crossibill amongst others passed over at the Heights. On the ground, a Dartford Warbler trapped and ringed in the Crown Estate Field and the lingering Siberian Lesser Whitethroat were the only real oddities from the Bill, with 3 Bearded Tits logged at Coombefield and the long-staying Wryneck at Barleycrates the only other additions of quality from further up island. On the sea, a total of 300 Mediterranean Gulls and 250 Kittiwakes provided plenty of target practice for the marauding 8 Arctic Skuas, with 1 Balearic Shearwater and 1 Wigeon the only other sightings of note. 

Firecrest at Coombefield Quarry this morning © Duncan Walbridge:

The Wryneck was very obliging today. portandwey.blogspot.com/2025/10/1-oc...

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— Port and Wey (@portandwey.bsky.social) October 1, 2025 at 11:32 PM

Fine October autumn fare of 1sty male Dartford W, 7 Redpoll and 5 Goldcrest were among 124 birds of 16 species ringed @portlandbirdobs.bsky.social today. Meadow Pip 43, CC 41, Bcap 12 highest in slow day with weather clearing and reaching 18 degrees in the afternoon. Red sunrise spectacular.

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— Peter J Morgan (@pbo61.bsky.social) October 1, 2025 at 8:23 PM

2 Sandwich Terns at Ferrybridge at dusk. Also one knot.

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— Steve M (@steveweynature.bsky.social) October 1, 2025 at 9:44 PM