Another day that slightly flattered to deceive, with a decent enough list of relatively brief oddities and suggestions from the mist-nets at least that there were migrant about but an overall feel from most fieldworks that rewards were hard to come by. The right old miscellany of oddities included 2
Red-necked Grebes settled off the Bill, 9
Greylag Geese and an
Egyptian Goose through on the sea, a
Marsh Harrier overhead at the Bill and, right at sunset, a
Caspian Gull settled at Ferrybridge. Grounded common migrant totals from the Bill included 90
Willow Warblers and 60
Chiffchaffs but among the less frequents there and elsewhere 3
Redstarts and singles of
Common Sandpiper,
Tree Pipit,
Black Redstart and
Grasshopper Warbler were about all that could be mustered. There was a feel that visible passage was poorly tapped into, with no serious quantification of what looked at times to be pretty steady passage of
hirundines in particular. The sea was well-watched but for no more than mediocre returns, with 6
Red-throated Divers and an
Arctic Skua the best off the Bill where
Manx Shearwaters and
Sandwich Terns remained present in fair supply.
The migratory wave of Diamond-back Moths and Small Mottled Willows reached us last night with 65 and 39 respectively from the Obs moth-traps; also 5 Dark Sword Grass, 4 Silver Y and 1 Rush Veneer. Oddest catch a single Shaded Pug - dorsetmoths.co.uk shows only one previous (later) April record
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— Portland Bird Observatory (@portlandbirdobs.bsky.social) April 9, 2026 at 11:10 AM
My 1st decent migrant moth night with 7 Diamond-back moth, a Rusty-dot Pearl and 2 Pale Mottled Willow
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— Debra Saunders (@debbyseamist.bsky.social) April 9, 2026 at 10:58 AM
