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12th October

Migration continued apace although subtle changes in the proportions of constituents saw Goldcrests gain prominence at the Bill at least, where 50 represented their highest total of the season to date; Redwings also got into double figures for the first time, including 19 at the Bill, whilst the first 2 Bramblings overhead hinted at further changes to come. In the dreary conditions and fresher northeasterly, Chiffchaffs were still conspicuously numerous everywhere, including 150 through at the Bill, whilst 50 Stonechats at the Bill was their highest total of recent weeks; further odds and ends of interest on the ground included a Dartford Warbler and the long-staying Whimbrel at the Bill, a Firecrest at Thumb Lane and 2 Bar-tailed Godwits, a Grey Plover and a Redshank at Ferrybridge. Numbers overhead included 1700 Linnets, 280 Swallows, 160 Meadow Pipits, 135 Goldfinches, 130 alba wagtails, 92 Chaffinches, 80 Skylarks, 24 Siskins, 10 Redpolls, a Merlin and a Lapwing at the Bill. Even though auks were still abundant at times, the sea was considerably quieter than it had been yesterday, with a lingering Arctic Skua the best on offer off the Bill.

A lot of our recent Goldcrest peaks haven't been until early November so there may well be plenty more of them to come yet this autumn © Martin Cade:


Goldcrests on the up in the Bill mist-nets today - 29 from the day total of 148 birds ringed is more than double their previous best day so far this autumn; 49 CCs and 17 Swallows the day's other high totals, with 6 Stonechats and 5 Redwings also their highest totals for the season to date.

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— Portland Bird Observatory (@portlandbirdobs.bsky.social) October 12, 2025 at 7:33 PM

11th October

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

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— Portland Bird Observatory (@portlandbirdobs.bsky.social) October 11, 2025 at 7:00 PM

10th October

Cloudy and cool conditions from dawn saw another nice arrival of grounded migrants, with a distinct late autumn feel to the variety of birds present. It was clearly a good day for some of the first thrushes of the autumn to put in appearances, with Ring Ouzel, Mistle Thrush (2) and Redwing all new for the season at the Obs. Another strong showing of Chiffchaffs provided the bulk of the numbers: at least 300 passed through at the Bill and patches of cover further up-island were reported to be dripping with many more; a seemingly new Siberian Lesser Whitethroat and singles of Dartford Warbler and Bullfinch were also of note at the Bill, with a Black Redstart at Portland Harbour also of interest. Overhead, birds were streaming through, with 1400 Linnets, 375 Goldfinches, 300 Swallows, 115 'Alba' Wagtails, 105 Siskin, 36 Redpoll, 23 Chaffinches, 10 House Martins, 4 Reed Buntings and singles of Grey Wagtail and Greenfinch logged from the Obs, whilst elsewhere a Glossy Ibis headed over Portland Harbour, from where what were presumably yesterday's 2 Common Cranes were also reported. Auks continued to abound offshore, with at least 4000 off the Bill where a Balearic Shearwater also lingered and a Red-necked Grebe passed by.

Big arrival of Chiffchaffs today and tapped into plenty of them in the mist-nets - 99 out of the day's ringing total of 179 at the Bill; this total also takes us over the all-time CC year record (now on 1393 for this year, previous record 1301 in 2012)...

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— Portland Bird Observatory (@portlandbirdobs.bsky.social) October 10, 2025 at 10:48 PM

...rare that the humble Dunnock gets a mention in our ringing summaries but its all-time record also fell today, with the 160th ringed overtaking the previous record of 159 in 2021. The first Redwing of the autumn and another Dartford Warbler also amongst the day's catch

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— Portland Bird Observatory (@portlandbirdobs.bsky.social) October 10, 2025 at 11:02 PM

Overcast skies led to an uptick in moth numbers overnight, with singles of Toadflax Pearl catalaunalis and Golden Twin-spot the best of the migrants at the Obs; unseasonables included singles of Rosy Tabby flammealis and Small Fan-footed Wave

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— Portland Bird Observatory (@portlandbirdobs.bsky.social) October 10, 2025 at 4:37 PM

9th October

Perfect birding conditions and decent numbers of routine migrants which, together with the added bonus of 2 Common Cranes overhead, made for a pretty enjoyable day. Grounded arrivals noticeably increased and included 100 Chiffchaffs, 50 Blackcaps and 25 Goldcrests at the Bill, where 2 Dartford Warblers, a Snipe, the lingering Whimbrel and a Cetti's Warbler were the best of the oddities. Overhead passage was also strong, with 360 Meadow Pipits, 280 alba wagtails, 210 Linnets, 120 Siskins, 70 Chaffinches and 40 Redpolls making up the bulk of the numbers at the Bill; a lone Crossbill also passed over, whilst after midday the 2 Common Cranes that had arrived over the Bill from the west tried to leave out to sea before returning and eventually heading away north over Portland Harbour. The sea was quiet, with singles of Red-throated Diver and Balearic Shearwater the best off the Bill.

The two Cranes were very nearly a gripping semi dip from the Obs: Joe had tipped us off that they'd passed east over Abbotsbury but since very few larger migrants that pass over there make it out to Portland we had little expectation of them putting in an appearance; cue some panic a while later when we could suddenly hear Cranes calling to the east of the Obs but inexplicably couldn't get on them visually; however - and fortunately for us - they chickened out of making a Channel crossing and ten minutes later flew back in off the sea and eventually headed away north to the mainland © Jodie Henderson:


Ringing numbers on the up again at the Bill with 157 new in perfect conditions. Good arrival of 44 Chiffchaffs and 35 more Swallows the highest totals; 13 more Redpolls and the third Cetti's Warbler of the autumn the best of the variety. Ta Rob Stephens for the Cetti's photo from Culverwell.

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— Portland Bird Observatory (@portlandbirdobs.bsky.social) October 10, 2025 at 12:21 AM

8th October

Another increasingly warm day with hardly a breath of wind saw reduced action on all fronts, with a short spell of drizzle associated with the passing of weak weather front coming far too late to drop us an any avian surprises.  With Chiffchaff and Blackcaps noticeably depleted, things felt particularly thin on the ground, with the first Black Redstart of the autumn, a handful of new Song Thrushes, the first double-figure count of Wheatears for the month and a noticeable build-up of Linnets the only worthwhile reports from the Bill. Unsurprisingly, overhead passage made up almost the entirety of the day's numbers, with 200 Goldfinch, 140 Meadow Pipits, 135 Linnet, 110 'Alba' Wagtails, 100 Swallows, 70 Chaffinch, 60 Siskin, 26 Skylark and 2 Red-throated Divers over the Bill. At sea, 2 Arctic Skua and singles of Balearic Shearwater and Pale-bellied Brent Goose were also logged.

It was good to see a sudden build-up in Linnet numbers in the stewardship crops in the Crown Estate Field - there were only a few dozen at the beginning of the week but they'd upped to more than 300 today © Martin Cade:

We had a weird little event at the Obs during the morning when two Red-throated Divers flew high overhead calling as they went; we get plenty of Red-throated Divers passing by on the sea here but we can't recollect having heard before any calling in this manner - perhaps the seawatch birds are usually inaudibly distant?). The sound recording captures three progressively louder clipped wails (the inverted Vs on the sonogram) and a single gruff sort of cross between a goose and a heron (just before the third wail) but we haven't looked up to see how these calls fit with what's known of Red-throated Diver's vocalisations © sound recording Martin Cade and photo Jodie Henderson:



A few of the migrant butterflies on the wing in the Crown Estate Field today were looking about as ragged as we're starting to feel after three months of flogging around the nets there © Martin Cade:




Today's weak weather front passed too late to jazz up the ringing numbers at the Bill - just 69 new at the Obs/Crown Estate Field (no nos received yet from Culverwell) with the best the first Greenfinch ringed this year - before the ravages of Trichomonosis we've ringed as many as 566 in a year!...

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— Portland Bird Observatory (@portlandbirdobs.bsky.social) October 8, 2025 at 10:18 PM

...also on the ringing front, a single Redpoll took their year total to 25 (all in the last 10 days) which is a new PBO record + the first migrant Song Thrush of the autumn was trapped

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— Portland Bird Observatory (@portlandbirdobs.bsky.social) October 8, 2025 at 10:24 PM

Again, far too clear and cool overnight for successful mothing: at the Obs, a single Toadflax Pearl the best of a limited catch of migrants; an unseasonable Swallowtail was an oddity there

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— Portland Bird Observatory (@portlandbirdobs.bsky.social) October 8, 2025 at 10:29 PM

7th October

Everything ticked along nicely in extremely benign and, by the afternoon, really warm conditions but ultimately the day's migrant selection was rather underwhelming, with less grounded than might have been hoped out of a quite overcast dawn and not as much on the move overhead than we'd seen yesterday. A good spread of Chiffchaffs, Blackcaps and Goldcrests was evident everywhere, but 2 each of Dartford Warbler and Firecrest, a Great Spotted Woodpecker and the lingering Siberian Lesser Whitethroat were a limited return for the amount of shoe leather expended during some wide-ranging coverage of the land. Ferrybridge was slightly more productive from the numbers point of view, including 400 Mediterranean Gulls, 145 Brent Geese, 141 Ringed Plovers, 90 Dunlin, 21 Turnstones, 3 Bar-tailed Godwits and a Grey Plover. Overhead rewards included 2 Crossbills over the Bill, where the numbers included 480 Linnets, 300 Swallows, 240 Goldfinches, 200 Meadow Pipits, 180 alba wagtails, 80 Siskins, 75 Chaffinches and 25 Skylarks. Both Kittiwakes and auks totalled well into four figures off the Bill, but 2 Arctic Skuas were as good as it got for quality there.

Ringing gathered a bit of momentum at the Bill today: 180 new incl 74 Swallows, 22 Chiffchaffs and 18 Blackcaps; nice variety of other seasonable movers incl 7 Pied Wagtails, 5 Long-tailed Tits, 4 Redpolls and a Firecrest...

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— Portland Bird Observatory (@portlandbirdobs.bsky.social) October 7, 2025 at 10:43 PM

...also on the ringing front: we've received notification of a fantastic recovery of a Firecrest ringed here last October that was controlled a few days ago by a ringer in the Czech Republic - the first movement of a UK-ringed Firecrest to the Czech Republic or indeed to anywhere in central Europe

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— Portland Bird Observatory (@portlandbirdobs.bsky.social) October 7, 2025 at 10:55 PM

Last night's migrant moth catch not really up to expectations - stayed too clear and moonlit for too long? An Old World Webworm, 2 Olive-tree Pearl, 3 Vestal and 5 White-speck the best of the less regulars at the Obs.

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— Portland Bird Observatory (@portlandbirdobs.bsky.social) October 7, 2025 at 2:51 PM

6th October

Although we were logging some tremendous numbers of grounded arrivals during the fair weather in late September, today's clear skies weren't nearly as rewarding with only Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps at all numerous - and then only in a fraction of numbers of the recent past. In contrast, it was very busy overhead, with 1500 Meadow Pipits, 1080 Linnets, 380 Siskins, 250 alba wagtails, 230 Chaffinches, 21 Skylarks, 19 Redpolls and 16 Greenfinches amongst the departers over the Bill. What little of note there was on the ground included a Merlin and a Great Spotted Woodpecker at the Bill, a Bullfinch at Southwell and a Reed Warbler at Coombefield. Kittiwakes were again really impressively abundant offshore, with 7000 west off the Bill in only two hours after dawn; 7 Arctic Skuas were the best of what little else was moving there.

This slightly dopey settled bird was wholly unrepresentative of the day's Siskins that were otherwise entirely fly-by visible migrants. It's shaping up to be a good autumn for Siskins (...at least, it's good for us seeing them in plenty although of course it might not be so good for them themselves as they're likely experiencing a food failure and are having to cover some miles looking for new resources). The day's total of 380 from the Obs compares favourably with the peak day-total of 420 during the last big Siskin year that was as recently as 2023 when we logged an autumn total of 3398 over the Bill © Martin Cade:


Resumption of ringing activities today after the weather-enforced hiatus. Relatively quiet with just 66 new birds between the Obs, the Crown Estate Field and Culverwell; 15 CCs and 13 Bcaps the only numbers but 6 more Redpolls and the first Siskin of the year amongst some nice variety

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— Portland Bird Observatory (@portlandbirdobs.bsky.social) October 6, 2025 at 10:27 PM

5th October

Although it remained a fair degree too windy for a comprehensive check of the Bill, scrutiny of the more sheltered spots further up-island revealed pockets of cover that were teeming with common migrants - whether they were new arrivals or lingerers surfacing in the constantly ameliorating conditions was uncertain but the numbers were certainly impressive. The clearer conditions also saw an increase in birds overhead, with over 200 alba wagtails, 67 Siskin, 25 Swallows, 4 Redpolls and a Merlin over the Bill. The sea was busy with Kittiwakes - over 2000 passed the Bill in the hour after dawn - but otherwise uneventful, with a lone Great Northern Diver the pick of what little else was passing.

The mid-autumn this year has been fantastic for numbers of Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps in the better quality cover around the centre of the island that's been dripping with birds on many visits - since a lot of these spots don't get looked at from one week to the next, let alone one day to the next, it does make you wonder what rares are getting missed © Martin Cade:

With Long-tailed Tits rarely straying as far as the Bill, it's always a nice treat to come across little family groups when birding further up-island; of course, where there are Long-tailed Tit flocks there's always hope but sadly there were no Yellow-browed Warblers or better in their wake today © Jodie Henderson:

4th October

With a raging and unabating westerly the order of the day there was little to report. Singles of Long-tailed Skua off the Bill and Sooty Shearwater off Chesil Cove were the only slightly out of the ordinary reports from plenty of seawatching and a Merlin at the Bill the only worthwhile sighting on the land.

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