20th August

Brisk westerlies were again the order of the day but only one heavy shower making landfall towards midday. Grounded passerine arrivals were limited to a very thin scatter of Willow Warblers and Wheatears, with a few Yellow Wagtails and singles of Ringed Plover and Grey Wagtail also overhead at the Bill and a few Yellow-legged Gulls coming and going from the East Cliffs gull flock. The best of the day's newcomers was the first Little Stint of the autumn at Ferrybridge. The sea got precious little serious coverage (...away from the Obs and Ferrybridge where does get serious coverage these days?), with 14 Manx Shearwaters and singles of Dunlin and Arctic Skua the only worthwhile reports from the Bill.

After a few false starts this autumn it was good to finally see a 'proper' juvenile Little Stint drop in at Ferrybridge...

...where a semi-juvenile Common Gull was the latest in a good run of recent sightings of this species that's usually very irregular in summer/early autumn © Martin Cade:

Cooler nights are beginning to seriously knock back migrant moth numbers, with Small Mottled Willow finally usurped from top spot at the Obs last night by Rush Veneer; Golden Twin-spot the pick of the catch there.. .

[image or embed]

— Portland Bird Observatory (@portlandbirdobs.bsky.social) August 20, 2026 at 11:05 PM

...if anything, our little 40w garden trap at the Grove was relatively busier including a particularly good catch of 5 Striped Hawks - 4 made quite a handful...

[image or embed]

— Portland Bird Observatory (@portlandbirdobs.bsky.social) August 20, 2026 at 11:07 PM

...with the fifth not fancying company and diving straight off to the nearest valerian for some sustenance

[image or embed]

— Portland Bird Observatory (@portlandbirdobs.bsky.social) August 20, 2026 at 11:10 PM