There was no improvement at all in the parlous common migrant situation today although there was some compensation in the form of a Common Rosefinch trapped in the Crown Estate Field; the Rose-coloured Starling also continued to roam around the Weston housing estates, whilst a Curlew Sandpiper was new amongst the Ferrybridge waders. Although hirundines - nearly all Swallows today - were again trundling through overhead in fair quantity the only other double figure totals migrant-wise were 59 Lesser Black-backed Gulls departing south, 20 Yellow Wagtails and 10 apiece of Grey Wagtail, Wheatear and Blackcap. Six Balearic Shearwaters, 5 Arctic Skuas, a Great Crested Grebe and a Yellow-legged Gull were amongst the trickle of routine movers offshore.
The Common Rosefinch was quite a surprise, not only for it coming out of the blue on an otherwise very quiet morning but also for it being so early - the earliest ever occurrence concerns the very first record for Portland and Dorset of one on 25th-27th August 1967 but there are only a handful of subsequent records during the first fortnight of September © Jodie Henderson:
Our post-tea check of the waders at Ferrybridge is beginning to get impacted by the speed with which the evenings are drawing in - under today's heavy cloud cover it was as much as we could do to get identifiable photos of the Curlew Sandpiper in the semi-twilight at 7 o'clock! © Martin Cade:
Renewed moth migration didn't seem to reach Portland over the weekend: two pretty ordinary nights in the Obs garden traps and an Old World Webworm from our garden trap at the Grove the only better quality scarcity.
— Portland Bird Observatory (@portlandbirdobs.bsky.social) September 7, 2026 at 2:05 PM
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