3rd November

With a northeasterly airflow firmly established and the news services dropping juicy morsels by the minute, being a rarity-seeking birder on the island today had something of the feel of being a particle physicist searching for dark matter - you knew it was there but you just couldn't detect it. Sadly, whatever it was remained undetected all day, with a trapped Mealy Redpoll, an overflying party of 9 Barnacle Geese, a passing Hen Harrier and the lingering Snow Bunting as good as it got on the scarcity front. At a local level, passing waterfowl were entertaining with 15 Brent Geese, 11 Pintail, 5 Teal, 2 Wigeon, a Mallard and a Red-breasted Merganser all relatively high-value birds amongst the 300 Mediterranean Gulls, 100 Common Gulls, 30 Common Scoter and 19 Cormorants also logged on the sea. Overhead passage didn't reach the levels of some recent days, with 9700 Wood Pigeons, 585 Stock Doves, 410 Jackdaws, 270 Chaffinches, 17 Redwings, 14 Fieldfares, 14 Greenfinches, 7 Siskins, 3 Lapwings and a single Golden Plover the bulk of the tally over the Bill. Grounded arrivals remained thinly spread, with 2 Short-eared Owls (and the remains of another recently predated individual) and singles of Wheatear, Dartford Warbler and Firecrest the best of it amongst the few Blackcaps, Chiffchaffs and Goldcrests at the Bill.

For us, the Mealy Redpoll was a very exciting bird: we had a redpoll lure deployed beside one of the  mist-nets in the Crown Estate Field and on doing a round of the nets we flushed the bird at point blank range from some weeds near the net and as it fluttered away it looked arrestingly frosty, with gleaming white wing-bars and rump - an absolutely nailed-on Mealy just with the naked eye! Still at extremely close range it then posed rather beautifully for some photos before proving to be the easiest of birds to walk straight into a net - if only everything behaved like that © Martin Cade...




...and © John Martin:


Proper wild Barnacle Geese in full migratory flight high over the Bill - none of this goose dross that circulates around Dorset for most of the rest of the year © Nick Hopper:


We're sure there must be the odd other 'ordinary' Wheatear left in Britain but you get the feel from the rarity news that we must have been very unlucky that today's bird wasn't either a Desert or an Isabelline © John Martin:


The Bill Snow Bunting and one of quite a few Clouded Yellows still about there © John Martin:



The Red-headed Chestnut tally advances to 7 in the last four nights with another single last night at the Obs; otherwise, migrant moth numbers continue to drop as the nights get progressively windier and chillier

[image or embed]

— Portland Bird Observatory (@portlandbirdobs.bsky.social) November 3, 2026 at 10:47 AM
Annie Irving
@sconzani.bsky.social
There was some discussion amongst birders about the Wheatear that popped up at the end of my little Snow bunting video. I've only ever seen Northern wheatear so can't be sure but she looks like a Northern female to me. (And if only that second shot had been sharp!)
Annie Irving @sconzani.bsky.social
· 7h
The Snow bunting at Portland Bill earlier, in a brisk very chilly wind. Do watch to the end when a little avian surprise pops up!






2nd November

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...


...but amongst the flocks at lower height this autumn has seen a particularly strong passage of Stock Doves, including many single-species flocks of them © Martin Cade:

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.

[image or embed]

— Portland Bird Observatory (@portlandbirdobs.bsky.social) November 2, 2026 at 11:46 AM

1st November

Today was a day that had a lot going for it and the fact that nothing particularly rare and interesting turned up was neither here nor there since there was always the feeling that such an event was just around the corner as routine migrants kept dropped in throughout the day. Dawn itself was clear, bright and not too promising but once murky and persistent low cloud rolled in the birds started arriving and didn't ever stop even if, pigeons aside, the overall numbers weren't actually particularly high. Whether Wood Pigeons were moving above the low cloud wasn't established but from time to time large flocks eventually totalling 5600 appeared beneath the cloud, as did a succession of thrushes that included 2 Ring Ouzels; a wide-selection of other seasonable fare were logged around and about, amongst which 17 Golden Plovers, 2 Snipe, 2 Firecrests and singles of Great White Egret, Lapwing, Short-eared Owl and Great Spotted Woodpecker were of note, with the long-staying Cetti's Warbler and Snow Bunting also still on offer.

Hardly representative of either today that saw just two singles logged or the autumn as a whole that's seen just one isolated day with a double figure total, this Firecrest was nonetheless a nice sight at France Quarry © Martin Cade:


On the ringing front, both Ring Ouzel and Lesser Redpoll were new species for the year at the Bill © Jodie Henderson:


Slightly bizarre: just as it's getting dark a Great White Egret has appeared and looks to be attempting to roost in the Obs garden!

[image or embed]

— Portland Bird Observatory (@portlandbirdobs.bsky.social) November 1, 2026 at 4:56 PM

On the moth front, despite decidedly unpromising chilly conditions, really good numbers of migrants again at the Obs. There's obviously something going on with Red-headed Chestnuts as there were 2 more additional to yesterday's single; 11 White-speck & 2 Cosmopolitan amongst the rest of the catch.

[image or embed]

— Portland Bird Observatory (@portlandbirdobs.bsky.social) November 1, 2026 at 12:04 PM

A fourth Red-headed Chestnut for the weekend - this one for John Lucas from his garden at Southwell

[image or embed]

— Portland Bird Observatory (@portlandbirdobs.bsky.social) November 1, 2026 at 4:59 PM

A total of 3 Red-headed Chestnuts seen today @portlandbirdobs.bsky.social with thanks to MC and JH; dark and light forms pictured along with Grey Shoulder-knot - an amazing number of moths in the obs traps today given the low overnight temperatures. I think the moths were warmer in the fridge!

[image or embed]

— alanlewiswildlife.bsky.social (@alanlewiswildlife.bsky.social) November 1, 2026 at 10:45 PM

A few birds seen in the hand this morning @portlandbirdobs.bsky.social - Ring Ouzel and (Lesser) Redpoll before a hasty return to Hampshire to look for Pacific Golden Plover (not seen!):

[image or embed]

— alanlewiswildlife.bsky.social (@alanlewiswildlife.bsky.social) November 1, 2026 at 10:59 PM
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)