Rosy Wave and White Satin - Portland Bill, 30th June 2009 © Martin Cade
On a nice overcast, muggy night the Obs garden moth-traps produced plenty of interest, notably 2 White Satin and a Rosy Wave (both of which are second records for Portland); the catch also included by way of other immigrants/wanderers 435 Diamond-back Moth, 5 Silver Y, 2 Bird-cherry Ermine, 2 Dark Sword Grass, 2 Dark Spectacle and singles of Tachystola acroxantha, Limnaecia phragmitella, Water Veneer, Brown China-mark, Rush Veneer, Grey Pine Carpet, Tawny-barred Angle, Orange Footman and Marbled White Spot. Elsewhere on the island a garden moth-trap at Southwell came up with another White Satin and a Cream-bordered Green Pea.
Migrant birds were hardly conspicuous, with just 2 Sand Martins and a Common Sandpiper at the Bill, although a visiting birder there did report tapping into a richer vein on the sea, which produced 8 Common Scoter, 4 Manx Shearwaters, a Balearic Shearwater and a Sooty Shearwater in a little over an hour first thing in the morning.
Crescent Dart (female and male), Epischnia bankesiella and Bird-cherry Ermine - Portland Bill, 29th June 2009 © Martin Cade
...we'd hoped to be reporting on quality immigrant moths showing up in the current hot, humid conditions but as they remained conspicuously absent we'll have to carry on with a couple more local specialities. Crescent Dart is widespread enough in south-west England and Wales but seems to be ultra-coastal everywhere so goes down well with visitors from inland; the Golden Samphire feeding pyralid, bankesiella, is much more localised, with Portland appearing to be one of its best-known haunts. Bird-cherry Ermine is a much more widespead species, but with most of the records from southern England thought to refer to immigrants it probably qualifies as the pick of the overnight catch at the Obs.
Hot, humid and relatively birdless today, with the only reports from the Bill being of 8 Manx Shearwaters, 4 commic terns, 3 Black-headed Gulls and a Sandwich Tern through on the sea and a lone Common Sandpiper on the land.
Immigrants/wanderers caught overnight in the Obs garden moth-traps included 70 Diamond-back Moth, 2 Dark Spectacle, a Bird-cherry Ermine, a Rush Veneer and a Silver Y.
Convolvulus Hawk-moth - Portland Bill, 28th June 2009 © Martin Cade
Still very low-key on the bird front with just a few Manx Shearwaters and 2 Common Scoter worth mentioning from the Bill.
A slightly earlier than usual Convolvulus Hawk-moth was the best of the overnight moth catch at the Obs; the only other immigrants recorded were 12 Diamond-back Moth, 3 Silver Y and 2 Rush Veneer.
Dense fog that rolled in yesterday evening didn't fully clear during the morning but didn't really impede birding on the land. A Serin was in the Obs garden very briefly first thing in the morning, but the only other reports were of singles of Greenshank, Curlew and Reed Warbler at the Bill, 5 Dunlin, a Bar-tailed Godwit and a Greenshank at Ferrybridge and 12 Common Scoter passing through on the sea at the Bill.
Overnight moth-trapping at the Obs was again fairly uneventful, with the only immigrants recorded being 6 Silver Y, 4 Diamond-back Moth and a Dark Sword Grass.
Clancy's Rustic, Lozotaeniodes formosanus and Gynnidomorpha luridana - Portland Bill, 25th/26th June 2009 © Martin Cade
...in the absence of any noteworthy birds we'll carry on plugging away at the moths. Single Clancy's Rustics on the last two nights were the first records of the 'spring' generation at Portland and may indicate that this species has now colonised the area; formosanus is a Scots Pine feeder that is a less than annual wanderer to the island and luridana is a bit of a local speciality that is known from only a few other sites in Dorset.
After a very muggy night of almost constant rain there was a gradual improvement and warm sunshine had returned by midday. On the bird front the only reports were of 2 Reed Warblers and a Curlew at the Bill.
On what looked to be a very promising moth night there was surprisingly little immigrant activity, with the Obs garden traps returning totals of just 110 Diamond-back Moth and 1 Silver Y.
yesterday's Mediterranean Gull - Ferrybridge, 24th June 2009 © Martin Cade
There was again a little bit of movement overhead into the brisk north-easterly breeze, with 100 Swifts, 10 Sand Martins and a Lapwing passing over at the Bill The only other reports were of 17 Common Scoter, 16 Manx Shearwaters and 13 commic terns passing through off the Bill and a lone Dunlin at Ferrybridge.
There was a sad lack of quality amongst the continuing very good numbers of moths attracted to the Obs garden traps; 2 Diamond-back Moth and singles of Lozotaeniodes formosanus and Catoptria pinella were the only immigrants/wanderers recorded overnight.
Late news for yesterday: a Mediterranean Gull was at Ferrybridge in the evening.
Northern Rustic, Scarlet Tiger and Six-belted Clearwing - Portland Bill and Bottomcombe, 24th June 2009 © Martin Cade (Northern Rustic), John Lucas (Scarlet Tiger) and Ken Dolbear (Six-belted Clearwing)
...not quite local specialities but all quite noteworthy. Portland has long been known as one of the few South Coast outposts of the rustic which is otherwise a western/northern species in Britain; the tiger is a fairly recent and perhaps rather unexpected colonist of the island that is now quite common at favoured spots such as Culverwell, whilst the clearwing is quite numerous - although often surprisingly hard to find without cheating and using pheromones - in places along the east site of the island.
As forecast the week has been steadily warming up and today a fresh easterly breeze had set in. A few Swifts and a lone Sand Martin headed overhead into the wind during the morning but on the ground the only new arrivals were a Common Sandpiper and a Reed Warbler at the Bill. The sea produced 3 Black-headed Gulls and 2 Arctic Skuas amongst the routine fare off the Bill.
Immigrants/wanderers in the Obs garden moth-traps this morning: 5 Green Oak Tortrix, 4 Diamond-back Moths, 2 Silver Y, a Grass Emerald and a Bordered Straw.
Assara terebrella, Green Oak Tortrix and Red-veined Darter - Portland Bill and Reap Lane, 23rd June 2009 © Martin Cade (the moths) and John Lucas (Red-veined Darter)
The only report of note today concerned a Bee-eater seen flying over Easton during the morning. At a much more mundane level further singles of Curlew and Reed Warbler showed up at the Bill, where 11 Common Scoter, 5 commic terns and 2 Sandwich Terns passed by on the sea.
A Red-veined Darter was at Reap Lane during the morning.
The pick of the overnight catch in the Obs garden moth-traps was the first Portland record of the spruce-feeding pyrale, Assara terebrella; an influx of 135 Green Oak Tortrix was also noteworthy, whilst recognised immigrants included 12 Diamond-back Moth and 3 Silver Y.
Late news for last night: 4 Storm Petrels were tape-lured, trapped and ringed at the Bill.
Storm Petrels - Portland Bill, 21st/22nd June 2009 © Martin Cade
...we've been lacking the necessary tape-luring equipment to have had a go at trapping Storm Petrels in recent years (and besides, in old age the attractions of spending the small hours of the morning lurking around at the tip of the Bill are replaced by the desire for a decent night's sleep!) but having acquired some new equipment this year we gave it a go last night. Seven birds in a couple of hours either side of midnight was hardly catching at the Porthgwarra rate but was on a par with how we used to do at the Bill. The highlights of the morning's moth-trap catch at the Obs were an Oblique Carpet (an infrequent wanderer to Portland) and a couple of specimens of Tipula maxima, which is Britain's biggest crane-fly (we don't really know anything about crane-flies but this striking species evidently frequents damp woodland and we can only remember catching it once before as a presumed vagrant at the Bill) © Martin Cade:
No so much in the way of new arrivals today although another 2 Reed Warblers and a Chiffchaff did show up in the mist-nets at the Obs. The only other reports so far have been of 4 Sandwich Terns, 2 commic terns and a Manx Shearwater through on the sea at the Bill.
Immigrants/wanderers in the Obs garden moth-traps this morning included 14 Diamond-back Moth and singles of Rush Veneer, Oblique Carpet, Dark Spectacle and Silver Y.
Late news for last night: 7 Storm Petrels were tape-lured, trapped and ringed at the Bill
A little bit of action today, including things seemingly still arriving as well as leaving. On the arrival front there were another 4 Reed Warblers at the Bill, whilst heading the other way there were 3 Grey Herons, a Curlew and a Mediterranean Gull. Further odds and ends included an unseasonable Red-breasted Merganser at Ferrybridge, where 5 Little Terns were also present.
The Serin was seen once in Top Fields early in the morning but didn't show up at all at the Obs; otherwise the best of the reports were of 5 Curlews, 2 Reed Warblers and a Spotted Flycatcher at the Bill and 50 Manx Shearwaters, 19 Common Scoter and a Balearic Shearwater through on the sea there.
Singles of Dark Sword Grass and Silver Y were the only immigrants caught overnight in the Obs garden moth-traps; amongst the local specialities, the first Four-spotted of the year was also caught.
Late news for yesterday: a Serin - presumably the bird seen earlier in the day at the Bill - was seen briefly in a garden at Southwell late in the afternoon.
Serin - Portland Bill, 19th June 2009 © Martin Cade
...interesting to see the difference in apparent yellow saturation on the bird's underparts in these two photographs taken in quite different circumstances - frontlit vs backlit and sunshine vs shade. We did get a few recordings of the bird calling although most were spoilt by the terrific racket generated by wind-blown leaves; click here to listen to one little sequence of occasional trills when the bird was settled.
The Serin showed up again early this morning for an hour or so in and around the Obs garden. The only new arrivals in evidence at the Bill were a couple of fly-by Sand Martins and a Reed Warbler, with seawatching there producing 11 commic terns and 3 Manx Shearwaters.
Just 2 immigrants in the Obs garden traps this morning: singles of Diamond-back Moth and Silver Y.
Finally, some sad news for Obs members of the recent death of Angela Hughes. Angela was a founder member of the observatory and served on the management committee and as a trustee until the time of her death. Nationally, she was particularly well known for the conservation measures she implemented – undertaken long before such initiatives became fashionable – on her farm at Hammoon, near Sturminster Newton, and it was in recognition of this work that she was awarded an OBE in 1982. Angela will be sadly missed and we extend our sincere condolences to her family. A memorial service will be held at St Paul's Church, Hammoon, at 2 o'clock on Wednesday 1st July.
Redstart - Portland Bill, 18th June 2009 © Martin Cade
...an unexpected capture in mid-June; further examination showed that it had a decent brood-patch so was presumably a failed breeder already heading south.
There was a welcome minor rarity today in the form of a Serin that showed up twice during the morning at the Obs; a Redstart was also trapped and ringed there, 18 commic terns, 6 Common Scoter and 4 Manx Shearwaters passed through on the sea and a feeding flock of up to 210 Gannets were offshore.
The only immigrant moths in the Obs garden traps this morning were 3 each of Diamond-back Moth and Silver Y.
Shaded Pug, Kent Black Arches, True Lover's Knot and Dark Spectacle - Portland Bill, 17th June 2009 © Martin Cade
...Portland appears to be one of the better sites in Dorset for Shaded Pug and Kent Black Arches; both are relatively common species at this time of year. True Lover's Knot and Dark Spectacle are both wanderers to the island, although the latter has been recorded with such frequency in recent years that we wonder if it might have become established here.
Precious little at all to report from the Bill where 14 Common Scoter, 3 Sandwich Terns and 2 commic terns passed through on the sea but there was nothing of any note on the land.
The selection of immigrants/wanderers in the Obs garden moth-traps this morning included 2 Silver Y and singles of Rusty-dot Pearl, True Lover's Knot, Bordered Straw and Dark Spectacle.
With so little to be seen around the island and having finally caught up with most of the jobs that were outstanding after our fortnight away we thought we'd nip in this afternoon and have a look at the Arctic Tern that has been present at Lodmoor for some while; there seems to have been all sorts of odd stories about this bird being seen mating with a Common Tern/showing odd features/maybe a hybrid etc so it had to be worth a look! Click here to have a look at a few photos of the bird.
Oystercatcher and Grey Heron - Portland Bill, 16th June 2009 © Martin Cade
...judging by their behaviour the pair of Oystercatchers at the Bill have bred successfully (they bred for the first time the year before last and this year look as though they've got young somewhere in the bowels of the Qinetiq compound beside the Bill car park) - they certainly lost no time in giving this passing Grey Heron plenty of grief this morning.
Yet another late Great Northern Diver passed through off the Bill today, where 17 commic terns and 3 Manx Shearwaters also passed by on the sea and the miscellany of late spring/early autumn arrivals on the land included 3 Sand Martins, 2 Chiffchaffs and a Grey Heron.
Still nothing of any great consequence: 2 Grey Herons, 2 Chiffchaffs and a Blackcap were at the Bill where another late Great Northern Diver, 3 Common Scoter and 2 commic terns passed through on the sea.
Immigrants in the Obs garden moth-traps this morning: 2 Diamond-back Moth and singes of Rusty-dot Pearl, Rush Veneer, Bordered Straw and Silver Y.
Late news for yesterday: we forgot to mention that there was a Reed Warbler at Broadcroft Quarry.
The reputation of June as a rarity month has taken quite a dip in the last fortnight and today offered nothing of any quality, with 2 Sand Martins, a Canada Goose and a Chiffchaff on/overhead on the land at the Bill and 50 Manx Shearwaters, 3 Black-headed Gulls and a lone commic tern passing though on the sea there.
Immigrants in the Obs garden moth-traps this morning included 2 Rusty-dot Pearl, a Diamond-back Moth, a Dark Sword Grass, a Silver Y and 2 Painted Lady butterflies.
Thick fog that rolled in yesterday evening lingered on overnight and well into the morning before warm sunshine finally broke through. The only new migrants on the land at the Bill were 3 Reed Warblers (click here to listen to a short recording of one singing at Culverwell this morning) and a Chiffchaff; 6 Dunlin, 5 Common Scoter and 2 Manx Shearwaters passed through on the sea there.
Overnight moth-trapping at the Obs produced by way of immigrants just 2 Rush Veneers and a Diamond-back Moth.
Late news for yesterday: 2 Dunlin were the only migrant waders at Ferrybridge in the evening.
A very short list of sightings today, all of which came from the Bill area: a Chiffchaff on the land and 27 Common Scoter, 12 Manx Shearwaters, 9 commic terns and a Balearic Shearwater through on the sea.
On a very busy night for resident species in the Obs garden moth-traps immigrants/wanderers amongst the catch included 3 Diamond Back-moth and singles of Rush Veneer, Rusty-dot Pearl, Spruce Carpet, Narrow-winged Pug, Gold Spot and Silver Y.
Whitethroat - Portland Bill, spring 2009 © Martin Cade
On a morning of unbroken sunshine with the temperature gradually beginning to creep up again the only reports were from the Bill area: 2 Reed Warblers, 2 Spotted Flycatchers and a Chiffchaff on the land and 20 commic terns, a Great Skua and a Sandwich Tern passing through on the sea.
Overnight, the immigrant tally in the Obs garden moth-traps consisted of just 2 Diamond Back-moth and singles of Rush Veneer, Rusty-dot Pearl, Dark Sword Grass and Silver Y.
An additional note for Observatory members: we will shortly be posting out the summer newsletter which will include an agenda for the forthcoming AGM and an interim balance sheet for 2008; these two items can be inspected/printed in advance by clicking here for the agenda and here for the balance sheet.
Hummingbird Hawk-moth - Portland Bill, 10th June 2009 © Martin Cade
...and another batch of photos from late May/early June. The Rannoch Looper aside, the insect highlight was a small influx of Red-veined Darters; the specimens below were photographed at the Bill (upper photo © Chris Stone) and the High Angle Battery (lower photo © Ken Dolbear) on 28th May:
...this Bordered Straw was caught in the Obs garden moth-traps on 6th June © Martin Cade:
...and this Knot was at the Bill on 25th May © Chris Stone:
The wait for the June rarity is proving to be long and unrewarding, with today providing just more of the same as in recent days: 5 Chiffchaffs, 2 Reed Warblers and 2 Spotted Flycatchers at the Bill where 19 Common Scoter, 2 Balearic Shearwaters and a skua sp passed by on the sea.
A lone Hummingbird Hawk-moth was again in the Obs garden today.
On a busy night in the Obs garden moth-traps the only immigrants/wanderers recorded were 2 each of Diamond-back Moth and Silver Y and singles of Green Oak Tortrix and Gold Spot.
...and some more catch-up photos from recent weeks. We've only just got our hands on these photos of the 3 Shoveler (we can't recollect Shoveler ever having been photographed on Portland before) that were spotted at Ferrybridge on 11th May by Pete and Debby Saunders who were passing by at the start of a mammoth month-long birding tour round Britain © Pete Saunders.
A handful more late migrants at the Bill included 3 Spotted Flycatchers, 2 Reed Warblers and 2 Chiffchaffs, the Grey Plover remained at Ferrybridge and 20 Common Scoter, 6 Manx Shearwaters, 4 Balearic Shearwaters, 2 Sandwich Terns and a late Red-throated Diver passed through off the Bill.
Also of minor interest, the dark male Little Owl from the Obs Quarry continues to be seen out hunting throughout the day; this evening he gave a prolonged bout of agitated calling - click here to listen to a short recording where he attracts the attention of the local Blackbirds; we're not sure what his problem was as he remained perched on top of a telegraph pole for the duration but this isn't a call we hear very often and we wondered if there might have been a predator lurking near the nest site.
Grey Plover - Ferrybridge, 8th June 2009 © Paul Baker
...and the first of a few extra photographs from the last fortnight; this is the very threadbare Striped Hawk-moth that was caught in the Obs garden moth-traps on 2nd June © John Lucas:
A tardy Hobby that lingered at the Bill for a while early in the morning was the best of the day's sightings; a Chiffchaff and a Spotted Flycatcher were also at the Bill, a Grey Plover dropped in at Ferrybridge and 34 commic terns, 20 Manx Shearwaters, 8 Common Scoter, 4 Balearic Shearwater, a Sanderling and a Sandwich Tern passed through on the sea at the Bill.
A single Hummingbird Hawk-moth was at the Bill, where Painted Lady numbers looked to have increased again (several dozen logged today in contrast to the single figure totals of the last few days).
A lone Diamond-back Moth was the only immmigrant caught overnight in the Obs garden moth-traps.
Rannoch Looper - Portland Bill, caught 2nd June 2009 © Martin Cade
...John Lucas kindly kept the Obs garden moth-traps going during our recent absence and was handsomely rewarded with this first record for Portland and Dorset; there'll be more photos of other insects and birds from the last fortnight to follow before long.
Three Reed Warblers, a Garden Warbler and a Spotted Flycatcher made up the migrant tally on the land at the Bill this morning; 37 Manx Shearwaters, 4 Common Scoter, 2 Balearic Shearwaters and a late Great Northern Diver passed through on the sea there.
Pine Grosbeak - Finland, June 2009 © Martin Cade
...another scene you're not likely to see in a hurry at Portland. Unfortunately the vagaries of Scandinavian wireless internet access have again prevented us from uploading updates to the website in recent days; however we return to reality tomorrow when normal service will hopefully resume.
Still as relatively uneventful as in recent days: 250 Manx Shearwaters, 7 Common Scoter and 2 Sandwich Terns passed through off the Bill, where 4 Chiffchaffs and 2 Reed Warblers were the only late migrants logged on the land.
A single Bordered Straw was the only immigrant caught overnight in the Obs garden moth-traps.
Most of the reports on a day of clear skies and little wind were from the sea at the Bill where there were 35 Manx and 4 Balearic Shearwaters, 20 Common Scoter and a Sandwich Tern; also at the Bill 2 Grey Herons flew over but no late migrants were trapped in 12 hours of trying in the Obs garden!
No immigrants were caught overnight in the Obs garden moth-traps
Cooler
today although the early morning cloud cover and first true easterly
wind for days didn't produce anything much more than 2 Willow
Warblers, 2 Chiffchaffs, 2 Spotted Flycatchers, a Hobby
and a Whinchat at the Bill. The sea was no more productive with
20 Common Scoter, 15 Manx Shearwaters, 3 Balearic
Shearwaters, an Arctic Skua and an unseasonable Red-throated
Diver off the Bill.
One Red-veined Darter was still present at the Bill.
A single Silver Y was the only immigrant caught overnight in the Obs garden moth-traps.
Immigrants in the Obs garden moth-traps: 12 Diamond-back Moth, 3 Rusty-dot Pearl and 2 Silver Y.
Clear, sunny and still very hot today. The Obs garden moth-traps produced the highlight in the form of the first Portland and Dorset record of Rannoch Looper; a Striped Hawk-moth was also caught, whilst more routine immigrants/wanderers included 29 Diamond-back Moth, 3 Silver Y, 2 Silver Y and an Orange Footman.
It was dire on the bird front with just 3 Chiffchaffs and a single Spotted Flycatcher worth mentioning from the Bill area.
Remaining hot with just a slight northerly breeze. The Serin showed up occasionally in Top Fields, but otherwise migrant interest was restricted to 3 Chiffchaffs, 2 Willow Warblers and a single Spotted Flycatcher at the Bill, where 30 Common Scoter, 21 commic terns, 10 Manx Shearwaters, 4 Grey Herons, 3 Black-headed Gulls and a single Mediterranean Gull passed through on the sea.
Imigrants in the Obs garden moth-traps consisted of 24 Diamond-back Moth, 1 Rush Veneer and 1 Silver Y.
