Despite the interference of several periods of rather heavy rain, today's birding was not entirely without merit, with a few nice scarcities uncovered among the various lingering migrants seeing out the current windy conditions. The sea was once again a hive of activity, with thousands of auks and small gulls feeding close off the Bill, with 12
Eider and a single
Great Skua providing the only variety among the numbers. It was a similar picture from Chesil Cove, save for the addition of a
Grey Phalarope and
Red-throated Diver also passing through. Elsewhere, a 1st winter
Caspian Gull present in the flock below Culverwell was believed to be a different individual to one sighted past the Bill earlier in the day, the
Pallas's Warbler and
Ring Ouzel were still present at Avalanche Road and the Fig Tree Quarry respectively and a few
Firecrests popped out of cover here and there.
We really have no idea how many different Caspian Gulls have been logged at the Bill this autumn as the situation begun to get muddied around the time double figures had been reached; however, it was interesting to note that today's bird had a noticeable limp which was also the case with one of the birds a month or so ago - probably nothing in that but it could just be the same bird resurfacing © Martin Cade:
Very few moths on a night of howling southerlies but what there was at the Obs included three singles of note: Ni Moth, Small Marbled and Blair's Mocha
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— Portland Bird Observatory (@portlandbirdobs.bsky.social) November 1, 2025 at 10:04 AM
