16th October

In the absence of any of the avian surprises of the last few days, today's birding was all fairly low-key, with the assemblage of birds more or less what you would expect for the time of year. Seasonal fare from around the Bill included an impressive count of 8 Dartford Warblers, as well as 6 Black Redstarts, 2 Merlin and singles of Marsh Harrier and Woodlark, whilst late records of Whimbrel (the long term lingerer), Yellow Wagtail, Tree Pipit, Whitethroat and Whinchat were also logged; elsewhere, there were several addition Black Redstarts as well as a single Firecrest. Suitably brief appearances of both the Wryneck and Cetti's Warbler at the Bill confirmed their presence for their sixth and eighth days respectively, but the Red-backed Shrike seemed to moved on to pastures new. Among the day's common migrants totals the 100 Chiffchaffs at the Bill looked be just a small proportion of the whole island tally that was surely up around the 500 mark, whilst overhead 60 Chaffinches and 55 Siskins were fair totals on a day when there wasn't really that much moving. The sea chipped in with its now customary several thousand auks and 500 Mediterranean Gulls, together with a lone Balearic Shearwater and an increase to 45 Common Gulls.

Usually a tolerably regular October vismig special, Woodlarks have been inexplicable absentees with today's single heading north over the Bill the first logged all month © Jodie Henderson:

Some more standard October fare - Merlin and Black Redstart © Joe Stockwell:

Less expected in October has been this off-passage Whimbrel that's been hanging around in Top Fields all month © Martin Cade:

After yesterday's Stone Curlew action we'd imagined that as night fell the flock - if they were still about - might start to get vocal so at dusk we spent a while on a high point in Kingbarrow Quarry with the sound recorder ready but drew a blank. What we hadn't realised until today when we got a chance to run through the previous night's nocmig recording from the Obs was that one or more of the birds had actually been overhead there in the early hours of Wednesday morning: the first calls were logged at 02:03am, another louder sequence cropped up at 03:09am and between 05:15am and 05:51am distant calls could be heard quite frequently. Here are four little sequences of calls picked from those periods:

 

Progressively quieter on the ringing front as the anticyclonic conditions continue. Down to 60 new birds at the Bill today among which Chiffchaffs made up half the total; no surprises amongst the selection of other expected October migrants.

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— Portland Bird Observatory (@portlandbirdobs.bsky.social) October 16, 2025 at 6:03 PM

Female Blackcap and Chiffchaff in the apple tree this evening. Migrant birds in the garden today: 7 Chiffchaffs, 6 Blackcaps and 3 Goldcrests, also several Robins

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— Debra Saunders (@debbyseamist.bsky.social) October 16, 2025 at 9:27 PM