A day that didn't really hit the mark with, save for another good pigeon passage, the stiff northeasterly not coming up with the goods in terms of overhead movement, grounded arrivals or scarcities. The pigeons were again quite a spectacle, with towards 33000 Wood Pigeons and 900 Stock Doves logged over the Bill and many more reported from other viewpoints that may or may not have been included in the Bill totals; the early promise of numbers of other species that were moving under a heavy cloud cover at dawn quickly fizzled out as the sky cleared, with final totals from the Bill that included no more than 210 Chaffinches, 160 Meadow Pipits, 79 Redwings, 17 Song Thrushes, 15 Fieldfares, 4 Swallows, 4 Bramblings and a Lapwing. Grounded arrivals weren't at all plentiful, with the majority of the few Chiffchaffs, Goldcrests and the like at the Bill being lingerers from the weekend; the Snow Bunting was still about but little else of note was uncovered. Sea interest included 72 Common Scoter, 60 Black-headed Gulls, 7 Teal and 4 Wigeon through off the Bill.
It's impossible to be certain of the relative proportions of Wood Pigeons vs Stock Doves in the majority of pigeon flocks that are migrating many hundreds of metres over the Bill...
In a blasting, chilly northeasterly migrant moths numbers dropped overnight but still plenty on the wing at the Obs including 13 White-speck, 2 Cosmopolitan and another Red-headed Chestnut. Also last night another Red-headed Chestnut for John Lucas at Southwell.
— Portland Bird Observatory (@portlandbirdobs.bsky.social) November 2, 2026 at 11:46 AM
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