15th October

After early signs that didn't look at all promising in a brisk and a dreary southwesterly today actually ended up passing off quite successfully, with single Yellow-browed Warblers at Avalanche Road and the Grove and singles of Siberian Chiffchaff, Caspian Gull, Dartford Warbler and the lingering Red-backed Shrike and Cetti's Warbler at the Bill, with further lustre provided by a spread of less regulars that included 4 Great Spotted Woodpeckers, 2 Firecrests and singles of Sooty Shearwater, Merlin and Black Redstart. Apart from the odd patch with Chiffchaffs still in plenty commoner migrants weren't much of a feature although 7 Redwings represented their highest total so far this month.

The Bill Siberian Chiffchaff © Martin Cade and Grove Yellow-browed Warbler © Joe Stockwell:



Portland Day 4 - A late start today as I had my little girl for a while in the morning. Managed to get out for a few hours after and pretty soon jammed in to my first Yellow-browed Warbler of the autumn, a good session in the Grove area also revealed a Firecrest, lots of Chiffs, Blackcaps etc.

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— Joe Stockwell (@joestockwell.bsky.social) October 15, 2026 at 5:35 PM

Fair numbers of migrants from the Obs moth-traps again last night with singles of Beautiful Twitcher T micalis and Porter's Rustic the best of the new arrivals; Autumnal Rustic nice for us as it was the first for 8 years and only the 13th ever

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— Portland Bird Observatory (@portlandbirdobs.bsky.social) October 15, 2026 at 10:09 PM

With the nights drawing in and some noticeably cooler weather on the horizon, it's hard not to find your mind wandering back to the balmy nights of summer and what was another successful season of Storm Petrel ringing at the Bill. Across 11 sessions (and one or two duds early and late in the season when we tried but didn't actually catch anything!), a total of 52 new birds were ringed, marking the third highest annual total after 121 in 1994 and 66 in 2025. The high encounter rate of Storm Petrels after ringing always produces fascinating movement data and this year was no exception, with 12 birds captured already sporting rings from elsewhere - 5 from Alderney, 4 from Skokholm, 2 from France and 1 from the Isles of Scilly; in addition, 14 Portland ringed birds were recaptured away from the island, with 12 from Alderney, 1 from the Isles of Scilly and 1 from St Abbs Head.