15th August

Although the breeze had freshened conspicuously and veered further into the east it remained far too clear to have expected any sort of arrival on the ground. Willow Warbler topped the totals at the Bill, getting to around 25, but amongst the thin back-up cast there only 2 Yellow Wagtails, 2 Tree Pipits and singles of Grey Heron, Redshank and Lesser Whitethroat provided any real interest. Four Mute Swans were amongst an otherwise routine selection at Ferrybridge.

The current warmth of the daylight hours hasn't been followed by correspondingly balmy nights and moth interest was again limited. Among the routine immigrants at the Obs only Silver Y on 14 got into double figures; singles of Iron Prominent and Small Mottled Willow there, another Iron Prominent at Weston and a Bulrush Wainscot at the Grove were immigrants/dispersers of interest.

Mute Swans - Ferrybridge, 15th August 2016 © Pete Saunders

14th August

 

A reminder that there's an In Focus field event at the Obs between 10am and 4pm this Tuesday, 16th August.

A waft of north-easterly at dawn made a very welcome change from the Atlantic winds we'd got so used to even if the crystal clear skies hardly promised much in the way of numbers. In the event there was a little more about than in recent days, with 6 Wheatears, 5 Whitethroats, 4 Sedge Warblers, 3 Yellow-legged Gulls, 2 Grasshopper Warblers and singles of Snipe, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Redstart and Spotted Flycatcher accompanying the 40 Willow Warbler that made up the bulk of numbers on the ground at the Bill; overhead passage there included 4 Tree Pipits and 2 Yellow Wagtails, with a few tardy Swifts also still in evidence everywhere. Odds and ends through on the sea at the Bill included 3 Manx Shearwaters and a lone Balearic Shearwater. A Little Stint was a brief new arrival at Ferrybridge.

On the lepidoptera front a Black Arches was a stray of note in the Obs moth-traps but conventional immigrants remained very poorly represented. By day, 6 Clouded Yellows passed through along Chesil Beach, with several Painted Ladys, another Clouded Yellow and 2 Hummingbird Hawk-moths making the list from other sites.

Common Buzzard and Redshank - Ferrybridge, 14th August 2016 © Pete Saunders (Buzzard) and Debby Saunders (Redshank)

13th August

With the forecast heavy cloud cover failing to materialise there was again precious little to hinder the onward progress of overflying migrants. Passing Swallows were a feature from soon after dawn at the Bill and quickly totted up to well over 200 but, a surprise Dartford Warbler aside, migrant interest on the ground there amounted to little more than a Grasshopper Warbler amongst low single figure totals of Sedge Warblers, Whitethroats and Willow Warblers. Ferrybridge was busier, with 107 Ringed Plover, 62 Dunlin, 6 Sanderling and a Whimbrel amongst a fair showing of waders. The only sea reports were of 5 Common Scoter and a Yellow-legged Gull through off the Bill.

Dartford Warbler and Little Tern - Portland Bill and Ferrybridge, 13th August 2016 © Roger Hewitt (Dartford Warbler) and Pete Saunders (Little Tern)

12th August

A slightly improved migrant showing today saw totals of 30 Willow Warblers, 15 Sedge Warblers, 4 Whitethroats, 3 Grey Herons, 3 Wheatears, 2 Tree Pipits and singles of Ringed Plover, Redshank and Yellow Wagtail logged at the Bill; elsewhere, 5 Wheatears and 2 Whimbrel were of note at Ferrybridge. Sea interest included 13 Manx Shearwaters, 9 Common Scoter, 5 commic terns, 2 Great Skuas and a Yellow-legged Gull through off the Bill.

Moth interest was in the form of variety rather than numbers, with immigrants/wanderers in the Obs garden traps that included 5 Rusty-dot Pearl, 2 each of Dark Sword Grass and Silver Y, and singles of Diamond-back Moth, Marbled Piercer, Cyclamen Tortrix, Rush Veneer, Flame Carpet and Red Admiral butterfly.

Wheatear and Wasp Spider - Ferrybridge and Portland Bill, 12th August 2016 © Debby Saunders (Wheatear) and Ken Dolbear (Wasp Spider)

Also thanks to Ted Pressey for sending us through a couple of results from his trying his hand last night at photographing the Perseids meteor shower - the second photograph is of the glowing vapour trail left by one of the meteorites:

11th August

A day that from the migrant-hunters point of view was over almost as soon as it got started since it was quickly apparent that precious little had made landfall. Searches of the Bill area came up with little more than 15 Willow Warblers and 10 Sedge Warblers on the ground and just the lightest trickle of hirundines passing through overhead. Seawatching there came up with 13 Common Scoter and 5 Manx Shearwaters.

10th August

A bit of consistency would be greatly appreciated as we seem to go from quite good days with the next being relatively poor. So as yesterday was a decent day today was poor in comparison. At the Bill today was 4 Yellow Wagtail, 2 Spotted Flycatcher, 20 Sand Martin, 35 Willow Warbler, 8 Sedge Warbler and singles of Tree Pipit, Snipe, Turnstone, Dunlin and Wheatear. Whilst on the sea there were 9 Common Scoter and singles of Great Skua and Mediterranean Gull. Meanwhile at Ferrybridge Ringed Plover numbers built up to 111, also 42 Dunlin, 5 Sanderling and singles of Redshank and Black-tailed Godwit.

Obs immigrant moths: 7 Silver Y, 5 each of Rush Veneer and Rusty-dot Pearl, and singles of Diamond-back Moth, Dark Sword Grass and Red Admiral butterfly.

9th August

With busy days having been at a premium so far this autumn today's little flurry of routine departing  migrants was both welcome and enjoyable; if more than just its one fortunate observer had managed to get to grips with the White Stork that maybe only rather tenuously entered Portland airspace over Portland Harbour then the day would have been capped off in even finer fashion. Willow Warblers and Sedge Warblers dominated on the ground, with 150 and 30 respectively at the Bill, where 250 Swallows, 100 Sand Martins, 5 Ringed Plover and a Dunlin headed through overhead and 10 Whitethroats, 6 Wheatears, 2 Spotted Flycatchers and singles of Grasshopper Warbler and Garden Warbler added to the mix on the ground. The morning's Manx Shearwater total on the sea there got to around 200, whilst waders at Ferrybridge included 56 Dunlin, 48 Ringed Plover and 8 Sanderling.

On a clear and chilly night immigrant moth interest was minimal, with a small increase in Silver Ys - including 13 at the Obs - the only event worth a mention.

Sedge Warbler and mixed waders - Portland Bill and Ferrybridge, 9th August 2016 © Martin Cade (SedgeW) and Pete Saunders (waders)

And thanks to Ken Dolbear for a photo we'd forgotten to post yesterday of a Clouded Yellow at Bottomcombe:

8th August

A clear, cool night no doubt saw plenty of migrants get moving but few felt the need to break their journey and drop in on Portland. Although there were some decent pulses of hirundines on the move through the morning - including the first obviously moving House Martins of the autumn - the totals on the ground at the Bill didn't get beyond 20 Sedge Warblers, 10 each of Wheatear and Willow Warbler, 2 Garden Warblers and a single Grasshopper Warbler. The continuing presence of bait shoals offshore was evidenced by the substantial flocks of gulls off the Bill but 30 or more Manx Shearwaters were the only other seabirds attracted to the feeding melees.

7th August

A foggy start to the morning that looked like it had potential for a few new migrants. After only a few hours of fieldwork it there was evidently little happening. At the Bill there was 7 Willow Warbler, 10 sedge Warbler, 30 Sand Martin and a single Black Redstart. Highlights from the sea were 7 Balearic Shearwater, 16 Manx Shearwater, 28 Common Scoter and a single Mediterranean Gull. Waders at Ferrybridge included 7 Sanderling and 4 Redshank.

Green-veined Whites, Common Blues and Painted Lady - Bottomcombe and Portland Bill, 7th August 2016 © Ken Dolbear

Last night's moth interest was sufficiently minimal that we may as well dwell for a moment on some of last week's highlights. We're very grateful to Sean Foote who looked after the Obs moth-traps in our absence, whilst elsewhere Anthony persevered with trapping at Culverwell; it certainly wasn't a vintage week for immigrants but there were actually some really quite nice captures to show for their efforts. These days, we hesitate to trumpet some records as new for the island because we've got such a huge backlog of set specimens from recent years that some species might already have occurred but await identification/confirmation; that said, we don't have any previous published records of Heather Tortrix Argyrotaenia ljungiana (this one was caught by Sean at the Obs on 31st July; thanks to Glen Maddison for the photo):

...or of Maple Pug (this one was caught by Anthony at Culverwell on 1st August; photo MC):

Anthony's trapping at Culverwell has been quite a revelation: we have to admit to being rather sniffy about the merits of Heath traps over 'proper' mercury vapour traps but we clearly shouldn't be so scornful as the two traps that we've had kicking around for ages and hardly ever used have proved to be extremely effective when deployed at Culverwell. Quite apart from the pug, Anthony's captures there have included multiple Dingy Shears (indicating the species is likely to be established there having hitherto been considered to be just a vagrant) and this Olive a couple of nights ago (the fourth island record; photo MC):

6th August

A much warmer day at the bill today with a drop in the lingering westerly wind although we are still waiting for the birds to hot up. Highlights at the Bill today were 5 Wheatear, 40 Willow Warbler, 10 Sedge Warbler, 100 Swallow, 2 Swift, 52 Sand Martin, 5 House Martin, 3 Rook and singles of Redshank, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Chiffchaff and Yellow Wagtail. Very little interest in the sea with the best being a single Arctic Skua, also 5 Mediterranean Gull, 3 Black-headed Gull and 9 Common Scoter. At Ferrybridge today there was 3 Wheatear, 2 Redshank, 12 Sanderling , 35 Ringed Plover, 25 Dunlin and singles of Whimbrel and Sandwich Tern.

The moth interest was well up in comparison to the last week although overall still pretty poor for the time of year. At the Bill was 2 of each Silver Y and Diamond-back Moth Whilst there were singles of Fen Wainscot, Gold Spot, Four-spotted Footman, Corn Borer, Dark Sword-grass.

Common Buzzard - 6th August 2016 © Pete Saunders

5th August

As so often happens in autumn, in terms of migrant numbers Portland was well and truly seen off by the mainland coast, some of which experienced a really good flurry of birds making the most of improving conditions; the Bill's totals of 75 Willow Warblers, 25 Sedge Warblers and 18 Sand Martins - together with singles of Dunlin, Redshank, Curlew, Yellow Wagtail and Chaffinch - were paltry in comparison even if they were very welcome after the recent hiatus. Additionally, an overflying Serin was an very unusual early autumn record there. Ferrybridge totals during the morning included 74 Ringed Plover, 66 Dunlin, 17 Common Terns and 6 Sanderling. Although it remained breezy sea interest dwindled, with just 9 Common Scoter, 2 Manx Shearwaters and a Great Skua through of the Bill.

Immigrant moth numbers didn't pick up at all, with just 1 Diamond-back Moth caught overnight at the Obs; nearby, an Olive - off hand, we can't remember the island total but it's less than 10 - was a nice reward from trapping at Culverwell.

Sanderling - Ferrybridge, 5th August 2016 © Pete Saunders

And we've got behind with Pete's Ferrybridge photos over the last couple of days; these two Shelducks were there yesterday (4th):

 ...and this Knot and the Little Tern flock were from the day before (3rd):

4th August

Plenty of attention on the sea today with the highlights being 4 European Storm Petrel, 2 Yellow-legged Gull, 150 Manx Shearwater, 4 Balearic Shearwater, 9 Common Tern, 3 Black-headed Gull, 3 Mediterranean Gull and 3 Common Scoter. Quiet on the land again with 10 Willow Warbler, 2 Chiffchaff, 3 Sand Martin, 4 Rook and singles of Sedge Warbler, Stock Dove and Swift. Meanwhile at Ferrybridge today there was 77 Common Tern, 33 Little Tern, 3 Sandwich Tern, 10 Sanderling, 4 Shelduck, 342 Mediterranean Gull and a single Whimbrel.

3rd August

A westerly wind all day showed little potential for land migrants, hopefully the calming weather over the next few days might entice more birds to head south for the winter and hopefully pay a visit to our crop fields. The best bird of the day was a late evening Storm Petrel rather surprisingly this is the first of the year seen on a sea watch (We've trapped and ringed some during the summer.) Other birds on the sea included 37 Manx Shearwater, 7 Balearic Shearwater , 2 Common Scoter, 2 Mediterranean Gull and singles of Little Egret, Black-headed Gull and Sooty Shearwater. On the land were 13 Willow Warbler, 2 Sedge Warbler and 2 Chiffchaff. At Ferrybridge the Mediterranean Gull numbers are slowly building up with there being 260 birds now, also 7 Sandwich Tern, 54 Dunlin, 33 Ringed Plover, 3 Sanderling, 34 Little Tern and singles of Turnstone and Knot.

Migrant moths at the Obs included 2 Rusty Dot-Pearl, 2 Diamond-back Moth and one of each Silver Y and Dark Sword-grass.

2nd August

With wind and rain overnight that continued up to lunchtime there wasn't a great deal of coverage at the Bill today. The sea proved most interesting today with the best being a single Sooty Shearwater Other things of interest included 7 Common Scoter, 5 Whimbrel, 200 Manx Shearwater, 3 Balearic Shearwater, 2 Arctic Skua and singles of  Great Skua  and Yellow-legged Gull. Of note on the land was a single Sedge Warbler, 10 Willow Warbler and 9 Rook. At Ferrybridge this morning there was 65 Dunlin, 5 Whimbrel, 2 Turnstone, 25 Ringed Plover, 16 Common Tern and singles of Yellow-legged Gull, Sanderling and a windswept Kittiwake. This evening there were 16 Mediterranean Gulls Feeding close inshore.

A blanket of fog covering the higher island - Chesil Beach 2nd August 2016 © Anthony Bentley

And thanks to Pete and Debby Saunders for a selection of photos from Ferrybridge today; some
 Whimbrel and a Black-headed Gull from Debby:

...and another of the Whimbrels, a new ringed Mediterranean Gull and a Common Tern from Pete:

1st August

August started of poorly with the afternoon being a complete washout with strong winds and constant rain, although some coverage was managed in the morning. At the Bill there was 11 Willow Warbler, 6 Sedge Warbler, 7 Swift, 4 Little Egret and singles of Cuckoo, Grasshopper Warbler, and Reed Warbler. A strong early morning passage of Manx Shearwater leaving lime bay totalled 800 with just a single Balearic Shearwater with them. There was also 16 Common Scoter and 3 Mediterranean Gull.

With Strong winds overnight the traps at the Obs were much poorer the only immigrants being 14 Silver Y, 5 Diamond-back Moth, 3 Rusty Dot-pearl and singles of Four-spotted Footman, Cream-bordered Green Pea and Limnaecia phragmitella.

Peregrine - Ferrybridge, 1st August 2016 © Pete Saunders

...this bird has breakfasted on hapless Dunlin two days on the trot. Also from Pete's Ferrybridge visit, a coloured-ringed Sanderling - some details to follow later on this one:

...and a gull for the aficionados to chew over:

31st July

A warm day at the Bill with a turn in weather to come hopefully might shake things up a little and drop some more birds in. On the sea today was 200 Manx Shearwater, 2 Balearic Shearwater, 65 Common Scoter, 4 Shelduck, 2 Yellow-legged Gull, 3 Teal, 14 Mediterranean Gull  and a Great Skua. On the land at the Bill there was an increase of Willow Warbler's with 70 around, also 5 Sedge Warbler, 4 Rook, 2 Grey Heron, 8 Sand Martin and singles of Wheatear, Garden Warbler, Yellow Wagtail and Stock Dove. At Ferrybridge there was 170 Mediterranean Gull, 2 Sandwich Tern, 150 Dunlin, 23 Oystercatcher, 3 Sanderling and singles of Little Ringed Plover and Whimbrel.

On the moth front at the Bill the highlight was a Devonshire Wainscot. Other immigrants included 32 Silver Y, 12 Diamond-back Moth, 6 Dark Sword-grass, 2 Rusty Dot-pearl, 2 Buff Footman and singles of Oak Hook-tip and Jersey Tiger.

Whimbrel and Oystercatchers - Ferrybridge, 31st July 2016 © Pete Saunders

And thanks to Ken Dolbear for a photo from earlier in the week of mating Chalkhill Blues:

30th July

A near calm wind overnight and light shower in the early hours of the morning had some potential for a small fall of birds today and we weren't let down. At the Bill there was 50 Willow Warbler, 10 Sedge Warbler, 2 Blackcap, 5 Rook, 15 Oystercatcher, 2 Ringed Plover, 2 Dunlin and singles of Grasshopper Warbler, Siskin, Snipe and Stock Dove. In the afternoon Hirundines started to trickle through with 164 Swallow, 21 Sand Martin and 4 House Martin. Interest in the sea came in the form of 4 Balearic Shearwater, 2 Great Skua, 4 Yellow-legged Gulls, 400 Manx Shearwater, 60 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, 2 Black-headed Gull and 34 Common Scoter. At Ferrybridge there was 211 Mediterranean Gulls, 42 Common Tern, 42 Ringed Plover, 134 Dunlin, 4 Sanderling and singles of Yellow-legged Gull, Black-tailed Godwit, Whimbrel, Turnstone and Sandwich Tern.

Immigrant moths at the Obs consisted of 6 Silver Y, 4 Rusty-dot Pearl, 5 Dark Sword Grass, 6 Diamond-back Moth and singles of  Jersey Tiger, Four-spotted Footman and  Buff Footman

Rook and Willow Warbler, Portland Bill, 30th July 2016 © Anthony Bentley

And thanks to Pete and Debby Saunders for a selection of photos of some of the action at Ferrybridge over the last couple of days; three from Pete:

...and two from Debby:

29th July

A strong westerly overnight that lingered around in the day is not what you'd call ideal conditions. Still there some birds around although not as many as in previous days. Around at the bill were 3 Balearic Shearwater, 17 Manx Shearwater, 6 Common Scoter, 9 Willow Warbler, 4 Sedge Warbler, 3 Swift and a Whimbrel. At Ferrybridge there was 130 Dunlin, 40 Ringed Plover, 5 Turnstone, 4 Sanderling, 120 Common Tern and a single Sandwich Tern.

28th July

Autumn migration feels like its starting to gather up a bit of momentum, with today being the best day for migration for some time. The highlight of today was a Cuckoo seen in top fields, elsewhere at the bill there were 14 Sedge Warbler, 12 Willow Warbler, 37 Swallow, 7 Sand Martin, 6  Swift, 11 Dunlin, 3 Common Sandpiper and singles of Grasshopper Warbler, Grey Wagtail, Wheatear, House Martin and Turnstone. A pretty standard affair on the sea with 250 Manx Shearwater, 10 Common Scoter And singles of Great Skua, Yellow-legged Gull and Black-headed Gull. Meanwhile at Ferrybridge wader numbers continue to increase with 110 Dunlin, 25 Ringed Plover, 3 Sanderling and a lonesome Redshank; a single Arctic Tern was also dropped in there.

A rather pitiful selection of immigrant moths at the Obs amounted to no more than 3 Silver Y, a Rusty-dot Pearl and a Dark Sword Grass; elsewhere, the island's second Leopard Moth was the pick of the catch at the Grove.

Little Tern, Leopard Moth and Beech-green Carpet - Ferrybridge and the Grove, 28th July 2016 © Pete Saunders (Little Tern) and Martin Cade (the moths)

...assuming Leopard Moth isn't a hitherto undetected resident somewhere off the beaten track - the only other Portland record is from Ferrybridge so today's specimen is the first recorded from the 'island' itself - this battered individual certainly pulled out all the stops and rubbed itself bare of most scales to get here.

Beech-green Carpet is one of the odder island inhabitants: a predominantly northern species, Portland remains its only Dorset site; although quite common in places on the undercliffs and quarried edges of the island we have yet to record the species in umpteen years of trapping at the Obs and today's specimen is the first from nearly four years of trapping at the Grove.

27th July

A windy start to the day had several hundred Gannets of all ages off the Bill. Also on the sea were 200 Manx Shearwater, 18 Common Scoter and singles of Balearic Shearwater, Great Skua, Artic Skua, Mediterranean and Black-headed Gull. Highlights on the land were 7 of each Sedge and Willow Warbler also the First Garden Warbler of the Autumn. At Ferrybridge there were 69 Dunlin and 3 Sanderling.

26th July

The highlight of the day was a Short-eared Owl at the Bill. On the sea were 63 Manx Shearwater, 3 Mediterranean Gulls and a juvenile Yellow-legged Gull. There was a little more action on the land today with 9 Sedge Warblers, 7 Willow Warblers, 2 Yellow Wagtail, 2 Collard Dove  and singles of Blackcap and Common Sandpiper. Waders at Ferrybridge included 66 Dunlin and 4 Sanderling.

Immigrant moth interest at the Obs consisted of just 19 Diamond-back Moth, 3 each of Rusty-dot Pearl and Silver Y, and a single European Corn-borer; oddities from other sites included a Vestal at the Grove.

25th July

Manx Shearwaters seem to be spending most of the day feeding off the bill with 400 seen in an hour this evening. Other interest in the sea was 26 Mediterranean Gulls, 7 Black-headed Gull, 1 Yellow-legged Gull and a Balearic Shearwater. Very little on the land with 5 Sedge Warbler, 2 Stock Dove singles of Yellow wagtail and Reed Warbler. Elsewhere on the island there were 5 Sanderling, 6 Dunlin, 23 Ringed Plover and a Turnstone at Ferrybridge. In Southwell Gardens there was also the first autumn Pied Flycatcher.

On a fresher night moth numbers fell away a little although there were a few morsels of local interest, most notably a Dingy Shears at Culverwell and a Satin Beauty at Reap Lane and (the fourth and fifth island records respectively).Immigrant numbers included 28 Diamond-back Moth, 5 Silver Y, 4 Rusty-dot Pearl, 2 European Corn-borer and singles of Dog's Tooth and Cream-bordered Green Pea at the Obs; additionally, a single Vagrant Piercer was found indoors at the Obs.

Vagrant Piercer, Dingy Shears and Satin Beauty - Portland Bill and Reap Lane, 25th July 2016 © Martin Cade

...many thanks to Anthony Bentley and John Lucas for passing us the Dingy Shears and Satin Beauty respectively.