A day of seriously impressive numbers, with another big drop of Chiffchaffs on the ground, a strong push through of visible migrants overhead and the sea carpeted with huge flocks of feeding and passing birds. The
Chiffchaff tally again reached around 300 at the Bill alone, where swirling flocks of grounded
Linnets totalled into four figures and singles of
Wryneck and
Firecrest were amongst the decent variety of other new arrivals. Overhead passage was tapped into mainly over the Bill, where 2150
Linnets, 500
Swallows, 380
Meadow Pipits, 235
Goldfinches, 220
alba wagtails, 150
Siskins, 75
Redpolls, 60
Chaffinches and 23
Skylarks were amongst the departers. At times the sea was a swirling mass of birds, with huge numbers of
auks - a minimum of 10000 off the Bill - going in all directions, a strong eastward passage of 1500
Kittiwakes and 850
Mediterranean Gulls, and large feeding aggregations of
Gannets and
gulls that attracted amongt others 12
Arctic Skuas, 7
Balearic Shearwaters and a
Great Skua.
The Wryneck in the Obs Quarry Field © Cindy Howells:
So rewarding on the ringing front at the moment: another 233 ringed at the Bill today, with 97 Chiffchaffs and 80 Swallows making up the bulk of the total; 6 Redpolls, 2 Reed Buntings and a Firecrest the best of the less regulars with further interest in the form of a late Sedge Warbler
[image or embed]
— Portland Bird Observatory (@portlandbirdobs.bsky.social) October 11, 2025 at 7:00 PM
