As is so often the case, a change in the weather seemed to be just what was needed to liven up proceedings once again, although it was very much a case of quality over quantity in the assemblage of birds present. With a brisk southeasterly to contend with, getting amongst any new migrants was fairly hard work but the rewards were there to be had with a brief
Radde's Warbler at the Bill and showier
Red-breasted Flycatcher at the Avalanche Hump the highlights from what was otherwise a fairly routine selection of oddities that also included 2
Firecrests, a
Merlin, a
Ring Ouzel and the lingering
Wryneck. An influx of
Goldcrests saw them move to the top of the grounded migrant leader board, with a constant throughput at the Bill totalling a good 75; however, little else responded to the conditions in the same way, with
Chiffchaff numbers notably reduced. At Ferrybridge, the winter brent flock continued to increase, with 3
Pale-bellied Brents amongst the c500
Dark-bellied Brents. Reduced totals were also the way of things overhead, with 370
Linnets, 155
Meadow Pipits, 110
Goldfinches and 100 Jackdaws the best of it over the Bill and 40
Redwings and 8
Crossbills of note over Ferrybridge. The sea was extremely busy for periods, with a large feeding flock of
Gannets off the Bill, where 750
Mediterranean Gulls, 300
Kittiwakes, 165
Black-headed Gulls, 4
Arctic Skuas, 2
Pintail and singles of
Sooty Shearwater,
Teal,
Tufted Duck and
Caspian Gull were among the varied list of lingerers or movers.
The Avalanche Red-breasted Flycatcher © Joe Stockwell:
The mix of Brents at Ferrybridge that'll likely become customary for a few weeks now © Pete Saunders:
Far too windy for a full complement of mist-nets at the Bill today but tapped into a nice arrival of Goldcrests that made up 27 of the 61 birds ringed. Totting up of the totals also revealed that yesterday we broke the all-time Stonechat record - now 81 ringed this year (previous record 78 in 2024)
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— Portland Bird Observatory (@portlandbirdobs.bsky.social) October 18, 2025 at 6:17 PM
Death's-head Hawk from the Obs moth-traps this morning
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— Portland Bird Observatory (@portlandbirdobs.bsky.social) October 18, 2025 at 10:05 AM
