— Portland Bird Observatory (@portlandbirdobs.bsky.social) September 10, 2026 at 7:57 AM
Beauty and the Beast - Firecrest and Sparrowhawk both trapped for the first time this autumn from the early rounds of the mist-nets
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10th September
Today played out in a similar vein to yesterday, with another spread of common migrants logged throughout the morning until the wind backed into the southwest bringing fresher and more challenging conditions. Blackcaps were once again the most numerous of the day's grounded migrants topping at the Bill, where 20 Willow Warblers, 10 Chiffchaff, a White Wagtail and the autumn's first Firecrest were also present. The lingering Rosy Starling remained among the Starling flock at Weston, whilst subliminal views of a Wryneck in the Obs Quarry were unable to determine whether this was a new individual or the ringed bird that has managed to evade attention since the weekend. Overhead passage at the Bill peaked in the first hour or two after dawn, with 120 Meadow Pipits, 100 Yellow Wagtails, 20 Grey Wagtails, 6 Tree Pipits, a Kestrel and a Dunlin heading out whilst the sea ticked over with 480 Gannets, 125 Kittiwakes, 31 Common Scoter, 27 Sandwich Terns, 9 Arctic Skua, 3 Garganey and 2 Balearic Shearwaters passing and 50 Manx Shearwaters remaining frustratingly distant amongst some interesting-looking feeding aggregations/tuna boils way out on the horizon.
