6th July

In fresher, westerly conditions there was a little more movement today. A light trickle of southbound Swifts and Sand Martins - totalling 21 and 13 respectively at the Bill - was evident through the morning, when new waders included 16 Dunlin, 3 Redshank and a Black-tailed Godwit at Ferrybridge and 2 Whimbrel and a Redshank at the Bill. Seawatching came up with 25 Manx Shearwaters, 2 Black-headed Gulls and an Arctic Skua off the Bill, whilst 18 Mediterranean Gulls were at Ferrybridge.

The second island record of Grey-streaked Smudge Plutella porrectella at Sweethill - the first was at the same site last October - was the pick of the overnight moth catch; since the first record was at the same site last October it could be that this species is established at Southwell, where the larval foodplant - Dame's-violet - maybe occurs as a garden plant (as far as we've been able to ascertain it's otherwise only an occasional 'casual' on the island). An increase in Dark Sword Grass - including 7 very fresh specimens in the Obs traps - were perhaps the progeny of earlier immigrants, whilst singles of Diamond-back Moth, Rusty-dot Pearl, Marbled White-spot and Silver Y made up the rest of the tally at the Obs.

  

Black-tailed Godwit, Raven and Grey-streaked Smudge - Ferrybridge and Sweethill, 6th July 2014 © Pete Saunders (the birds) and Debby Saunders (the moth)

 

And the island's sixth modern record of Sand Dart that we didn't get round to yesterday (© Martin Cade):

 

 

...the circumstances of this occurrence were peculiar to say the least: at the end of a short car journey between the Obs and home we were greeted with a 'Daddy, what's this moth?' query as our daughter disturbed a moth which fell out of the car as she opened the door; not expecting anything of consequence, we were rather astonished to find it was a Sand Dart. We can only imagine that we caught it without realising when trapping at Ferrybridge two nights ago - maybe it had been on the underside of the sheet - and it had been in the car ever since. Sand Dart was known from Ferrybridge in the Victorian era and has always been at the back of our mind as something to look out for - perhaps it is still there?

5th July

Early July certainly packs a punch when it comes to out of the blue rarities - to the extent that you do wonder what more might be revealed if there was even half-decent coverage of the Bill area, let alone the rest of the island, at this time of year. Today's breezy, dreary morning when, frankly, absolutely nothing was expected came up with the rudest of awakenings, when a perfunctory Bill seawatch was suddenly brought to life with a Black-browed Albatross cruising past; the bird headed rather languidly eastward, even lingering briefly to do a lap of the West Shambles buoy, before disappearing behind trees in the Obs garden and not being picked up again. The day's only other reports were of 50 Manx Shearwaters and an Arctic Skua through off the Bill, and 16 Dunlin and a Sanderling at Ferrybridge.

Singles of Dark Sword Grass and Buff Footman were the only immigrants/wanderers caught overnight in the Obs moth-traps; additionally, a Sand Dart  was found at the Grove (more on this tomorrow).

Black-browed Albatross - off Portland Bill, 5th July 2014 © Martin Cade

 

...the gut-wrenching adrenaline rush that kicked in saw us make a complete pig's ear of getting a record shot until the bird's close approach to the West Shambles buoy (which is about 2 miles from the Obs) belatedly gave us a point of reference to focus on, fire away and hope for the best; this single frame is the only one in which the bird featured and, if nothing else, maybe gives a feel for the massive arched wings - a shape which we weren't really expecting having never seen an albatross before - that brought to mind a hugely outsized Cory's Shearwater.

4th July

Before a complete change in the weather arrived during the evening, when wind and rain swept in from the south-west, there was plenty of time to establish that it remained pretty quiet everywhere. Seawatching at the Bill returned totals of 58 Common Scoter and 11 Manx Shearwaters, whilst 31 Mediterranean Gulls, 8 Dunlin, 2 Common Terns, a Sanderling and a Sandwich Tern were at Ferrybridge.

On a very disappointing moth night the only immigrant interest in the Obs garden traps came in the form of 2 Rusty-dot Pearl and singles of Diamond-back Moth, Dark Pine Knot-horn and Dark Spectacle.

Mediterranean Gull - Ferrybridge, 4th July 2014 © Pete Saunders

3rd July

After a beautifully still night when another 5 Storm Petrels had been tape-lured and ringed at the Bill the day itself was again fine, warm and sunny, albeit with a brisk westerly breeze becoming a conspicuous feature. At the Bill the day's reports were all from the sea, with 10 Common Scoter, 2 Balearic Shearwaters, 2 Black-headed Gulls and singles of Manx Shearwater and Mediterranean Gull through during the morning. Elsewhere, the Hooded Crow was again at Admiralty Quarry and the Mediterranean Gull tally at Ferrybridge increased to 39.
 
Immigrants/wanderers caught overnight in the Obs garden moth-traps included 5 each of Rusty-dot Pearl and Silver Y, 2 Dark Spectacle and singles of Diamond-back Moth, Crescent, Beautiful Hook-tip and Cream-bordered Green Pea.

Saltmarsh Grass-veneer Pediasia aridella - Ferrybridge, 3rd July 2014 © Martin Cade

 

Since we hadn't seen aridella for many years - the only specimens in the Obs reference collection were kindly given to us by Norman Hall who'd caught them getting on for 20 years ago at Ferrybridge - we thought we'd have a go for it at Ferrybridge in last night's lovely calm conditions. Norman had told us that they're typically late night flyers, and so it came to pass, with none seen before 2am but then 20 or more caught between then and dawn at 4am. Unlike several of the other crambids, it seems aridella doesn't wander far from its chosen saltmarsh habitat: Dave Foot tells us that he's never caught one in his garden at Wyke Regis (only a few hundred metres from Ferrybridge), whilst there are no records from any of the static light-traps run in gardens on Portland.

2nd July

A few more little hints of movement on a lovely warm, sunny day: the Bill came up with 4 Sand Martins and a Curlew overhead, a Bullfinch in the Obs garden and 24 Common Scoter, 3 Manx Shearwaters and a Mediterranean Gull through on the sea, whilst Ferrybridge came up with 10 Dunlin, 2 Shelducks and a Redshank. Other reports included the Hooded Crow lingering on at Admiralty Quarry and 3 more Storm Petrels tape-lured and ringed at the Bill in the early hours.

A Sand Dart - we think the fifth Portland record in modern times - at Sweethill was the best of the overnight moth catch; other oddities included a Lesser Wax Moth at Sweethill, a Dark Pine Knot-horn at the Grove and 2 Cream-bordered Green Pea at the Obs, whilst the routine immigrant at the Obs consisted of just 2 Rusty-dot Pearl, 2 Silver Y and a Diamond-back Moth.

1sy July

The new month begun with a short rain shower after dawn before a gradual improvement saw the return of sunny skies, albeit tempered by a brisk easterly breeze, by afternoon. Singles of Lapwing and Cuckoo provided some migrant interest at the Bill, where 44 Common Scoter, 5 Common Terns and 4 Manx Shearwaters passed by on the sea.

Amongst the moths the highlight was the belated news of a Splendid Brocade - Portland's fourth record - caught yesterday at Reap Lane; today's immigrants/wanderers at the Obs included 4 Rusty-dot Pearl and singles of Pearl Grass-veneer Catoptria pinella, Scallop Shell, Langmaid's Yellow Underwing and Silver Y.

Splendid Brocade, Lulworth Skipper and Lapwing - Reap Lane and Portland Bill, 30th June & 1st July 2014 © Martin Cade (Splendid Brocade), David Rashley (Lulworth Skipper) and Keith Pritchard Birding Portland UK (Lapwing)

30th June

A none too vintage June drew to an uneventful close, with nothing much more than singles of Curlew and Greenshank over the Bill, the same or another Greenshank over Blacknor and 25 Mediterranean Gulls at Ferrybridge.

Despite it being the chilliest, dewiest night for a while interest picked up a little in the Obs garden moth-traps, with singles of Spindle Knot-horn Nephopterix angustella, Double-lobed and Marbled White-spot all noteworthy wanderers; 5 Rusty-dot Pearl, 3 Diamond-back Moth and 2 Silver Y were the only conventional immigrants caught.

Little Owls - Southwell and Portland Bill, June 2014 © Martin Cade

...and at the conclusion of last night's World Cup penalty shoot-out we were feeling rather more awake than we should have been so decided on another impromptu petrel ringing session, with the 10 birds trapped coming in at sufficiently regular enough intervals that we ended up sticking with it until daybreak (photo © Martin Cade):

We've noticed before that after mid-summer the birds seem to get a fair bit more vocal, and that was certainly the case last night when there was much more calling in flight than we'd heard previously this summer. Several were also pretty noisy in the hand:
 

29th June

Just about all the news was from the seawatchers, with 130 Manx Shearwaters, 20 Common Scoter, 4 Balearic Shearwaters, 4 commic terns, 3 Black-headed Gulls, 2 Mediterranean Gulls and 2 Sandwich Terns through off the Bill. The only other reports were of the Hooded Crow still about at Admiralty Quarry/Grove pig farm and a Chiffchaff at the Bill.

Immigrants/wanderers caught overnight in the Obs garden moth-traps included 8 Rusty-dot Pearl, 2 each of Diamond-back Moth, Cream-bordered Green Pea and Silver Y, and singles of Clouded Border and Dark Spectacle.

Lulworth Skipper, egg-laying Six-belted Clearwing, Chalkhill Blue, Gatekeeper and Small Skipper - Portland Bill and Tout Quarry © Joe Stockwell (Lulworth Skipper) and Ken Dolbear (all the others)

28th June

With the exception of the Hooded Crow that lingered on in and around the Grove pig farm all the day's reports came from the sea, with 54 Manx Shearwaters, 25 Common Scoter, 3 Balearic Shearwaters, a Canada Goose and a Mediterranean Gull through off the Bill.

A particularly paltry selection of immigrant moths at the Obs consisted of just 4 Diamond-back Moth and 2 Dark Spectacle.

A reminder that the next In Focus field event at the Obs takes place between 10am and 4pm tomorrow, Sunday 29th June.

Small Tortoiseshell - Portland Bill, 26th June © Ken Dolbear

 

...and also from Ken, two Ringlets from West Cliff this week - the top photo of a 'normal' specimen and the lower one of the aberration arete with reduced spots on the underwings:

27th June

Contrasting fortunes on the weather front today with a dreary, quiet morning with occasional spits and spots of rain giving way to a sunny and increasingly breezy afternoon. The quality of the birding didn't change at all: the Hooded Crow was again in and around the Grove pig farm, a new Blackcap showed up at the Obs and a few Manx Shearwaters were milling around off the Bill.

With the exception of a single Bulrush Cosmet Limnaenia phragmitella at the Obs, overnight mothing was uniformly poor: in comparison with the last fortnight numbers and variety were very subdued, with 10 Rusty-dot Pearl and singles of Diamond-back Moth, Dark Sword Grass and Silver Y the only immigrants caught in the Obs traps.

Bulrush Cosmet - Portland Bill, 27th June 2014 © Martin Cade

 

...we could really do with knuckling down to getting the Portland moth records together in one place: our base-line survey of the all-time records is getting on for 20 years out of date and everything since is still tucked away in notebooks or lost on ancient spreadsheets on nearly defunct hard drives. For this reason it's often difficult/impossible for us to be sure how many records there have been of occasional wanderers like this that aren't enumerated in full in the Obs annual report.

26th June

The long-established anticyclone that's brought us more than a fortnight of really nice summery weather finally begun to lose its influence today, with the passage of a fairly weak weather front introducing a spell of patchy rain early the afternoon. The change did little for the quality of the birding: the Hooded Crow was again at the Grove, 14 Mediterranean Gulls and 3 Dunlin were at Ferrybridge and 50 Manx Shearwaters, 4 Common Scoter and a Black-headed Gull passed through off the Bill.

 

The main moth news of the day concerned another addition to the island list: a Brown Oak Tortrix Archips crataegana was caught yesterday at Reap Lane. Immigrants hardly featured today, with 2 Rusty-dot Pearl and 2 Silver Y the only species making the tally at the Obs; singles of Scallop Shell, Round-winged Muslin and Green Silver-lines were all noteworthy wanderers there.

 

Brown Oak Tortrix and Round-winged Muslin (left) & Muslin Footman - Reap Lane and Portland Bill, 25th and 26th June 2014 © Martin Cade

25th June

Another very pleasant day although beginning to feel a little fresher in a sometimes brisk easterly. The only reports of any consequence were of a Grey Heron over Easton and a Common Scoter through off the Bill.

Moth interest remained at the ticking-over level, with the immigrant/wanderer tally from the Obs traps consisting of 11 Rusty-dot Pearl, 7 Silver Y, 2 Diamond-back Moth and singles of Tawny-barred Angle, Figure of 80 and Delicate; a Dark Pine Knot-horn Dioryctria abietella at the Grove was the best of the bunch elsewhere.

Life, death and other happenings - Portland Bill, 24th/25th June 2014 © Martin Cade

 

This Figure of 80 was probably the best of the night's moths: although it's just about frequent enough that there's a chance it might be a low density resident (are there many poplars away from Culverwell?), we've always had the feel for it being no more than a stray to the island:

 

 

And a couple of Portland specials amongst the catch-ups from the last few days. The little cochylid, Bank Conch Gynnidomorpha luridana, is pretty frequently caught in at least the Obs and the Grove traps and presumably feeds on the Red Bartsia which is common close to both sites; in Dorset it seems to occur just at Portland and a few sites in the north-east of the county:

 

 

...Thyme Pug is even scarcer in the county, being recorded from just Portland and a couple of sites in east Purbeck (moth photos © Martin Cade):

 

 

And finally, amongst the backlog of bird photos we had two more of the Hooded Crow - on the rooftops of the Grove pig farm (© Chris Dresh) and flying over the Obs (© Martin Cade):

24th June

With nothing of note bar the Hooded Crow (which was reported from the Bill early in the morning) on the land it was left to a few odds and ends on the sea off the Bill to provide the bulk of the day's sightings; these included 49 Common Scoter, 40 Manx Shearwaters, 6 commic terns, 3 Mediterranean Gulls and 2 Sandwich Terns.

Immigrants/wanderers in the Obs garden moth-traps included 17 Rusty-dot Pearl, 5 Diamond-back Moth, 2 each of  Dark Sword Grass, Cream-bordered Green Pea and Dark Spectacle and singles of Blotched Marble Endothenia quadrimaculana, Delicate and Miller.

Puffin - Portland Bill, 24th June 2014 © Pete Saunders

 

...we don't often bother to mention the Puffins once they've settled in but they are still about, with the highest count so far this summer being just 4.

 

Also the first of a selection of catch-up photos; this Crescent Bell Epinotia bilunana caught three nights ago at Sweethill was a first for Portland (photo © Debby Saunders):

23rd June

The Hooded Crow showed up again early in the  morning at the Bill, from where it flew so far out to sea that it was lost to view for a while before about-turning and eventually heading back north over the Obs. New arrivals at the Bill included 3 Grey Herons, a Sand Martin, a Willow Warbler and at least 1 Chiffchaff, whilst another 10 Sand Martins passed through at Ferrybridge. Seawatching at the Bill came up with just 18 Common Scoter and 3 Black-headed Gulls.

A disappointingly poor showing of immigrant/wandering moths at the Obs included 18 Rusty-dot Pearl, 3 Diamond-back Moth, a Cream-bordered Green Pea and a Silver Y.

We will get round to some photos shortly but right now there are just too many Storm Petrels, moths, football matches, articles to write etc going on and far too few hours in the day to fit them all in - sorry!

22nd June

The Hooded Crow put in another appearance at the Bill during the morning when it was watched flying in off the sea (although it hasn't been reported for a couple of days it's most likely been around, but interest in it has dwindled and, as far as we know, its favourite haunt at the Grove pig farm hasn't been checked). Returning migrants included another 5 Sand Martins and another 4 Black-headed Gulls through at the Bill, whilst 18 Common Scoter and 5 Manx Shearwaters passed through on the sea there.

A strong immigration of Red Admirals was evident at times today: early in the morning 44 flew north in 20 minutes along West Cliffs at the Bill, whilst in the late afternoon/early evening there was a steady northbound movement of singles every few minutes through the Ferrybridge/Chesil Beach area; a single individual was also caught overnight in one of the Obs garden moth-traps. Five Small Tortoiseshells also passed through amongst the early morning movement along West Cliffs. The tally of immigrants/wanderers in the Obs garden moth-traps included 22 Rusty-dot Pearl, 9 Silver Y and singles of Diamond-back Moth, Scallop Shell and Cream-bordered Green Pea, whilst a Marbled White-spot was the best of the non-residents at the Grove.

A few photos from the day to follow tomorrow.

21st June

It almost goes without saying that the prevailing anticyclonic conditions remained firmly established and it remained warm and sunny all day. The lack of change in the weather is no doubt the main factor in it also remaining quiet on the bird front, with precious little of note beyond the first 2 departing Sand Martins and yet another new Chiffchaff at the Bill and 9 Common Scoter and 3 Manx Shearwaters through on the sea there.

No unexpectedly considering the current warmth, the moth-traps remained very busy indeed, with a slightly more varied catch of immigrants and wanderers evident at the Obs: 21 Rusty-dot Pearl, 2 each of Diamond-back Moth, Cream-bordered Green Pea and Silver Y and singles of Hummingbird Hawk-moth, Orange Footman, Dark Sword Grass, Obscure Wainscot and Delicate.

A reminder for Obs members that this year's AGM will take place on Saturday 12th July; the agenda for the meeting is available on the Notices page.

20th June

There wasn't a cloud in the sky for a good part of what was another glorious day. A Curlew Sandpiper at Ferrybridge stole the bird of the day honours, with 3 Sanderling and a Dunlin there and a Redshank at the Bill giving further indications of return wader passage beginning to get going. The Wheatear remained at the Bill, where at least 1 new Chiffchaff also showed up and 47 Manx Shearwaters, 40 Common Scoter and 2 Black-headed Gulls passed by on the sea. The only other reports were of 5 Mediterranean Gulls and 4 Shelduck at Ferrybridge.

The immigrant moth list has been rather samey in recent days, with the overnight tally of 16 Rusty-dot Pearl, 2 Diamond-back Moth and a Delicate at the Obs indicating that little had changed on that front; a Scorched Wing was the best of the non-local wanderers caught there.

Curlew Sandpiper - Ferrybridge, 20th June 2014 © Pete Saunders

...and continuing our recent theme of Portland's special summer lepidoptera, arguably the best of the lot since it's a UK endemic known only from Portland and one site near Swanage  - Richardson's Case-bearer Eudarcia richardsoni - is now on the wing: after a couple of abortive searches for it earlier in the week (maybe a few days too early?) at Penn's Weare, yesterday evening we eventually found one amongst the boulder screes at one of its other known locations on the island at West Weare (photos © Martin Cade):

 

19th June

We're not moaning in the least but at times it was stiflingly hot today, as well as beginning to get really muggy once some cloud rolled in late in the day. The 7 Storm Petrels tape-lured and ringed overnight at the Bill comprised 6 newcomers and, rather interestingly, a retrap first ringed three nights ago. Day-time interest was limited to 3 Chiffchaffs, a Grey Heron and a Wheatear at the Bill, 41 Manx Shearwaters and 7 Common Scoter through on the sea there, a Common Sandpiper at Chesil Cove and 6 Dunlin at Ferrybridge.

Immigrant/wandering moths included 26 Rusty-dot Pearl and singles of Diamond-back Moth, Pine Carpet, Green Silver-lines and Silver Y at the Obs and a Dotted Ermel Ethmia dodecea at Sweethill.

Kestrel and Wheatear - West Cliffs and Portland Bill, 19th June 2014 © Pete Saunders

18th June

Although the Hooded Crow remained in residence to provide the day's main interest there were a few new arrivals to pad out the list, with singles of Grey Heron, Lapwing, Wheatear and Chiffchaff all showing up at the Bill; a Black Redstart there was thought most likely to be the individual that's popped up from time to time in recent weeks in the Bill Quarry area. The only other reports worth a mention were of 20 Common Scoter and an Arctic Skua through off the Bill.

A Bordered Straw was the best of the overnight immigrant moths at the Obs, where the third island record of Striped Wainscot provided greater local interest; 22 Rusty-dot Pearl, 2 each of Cream-bordered Green Pea and Silver Y, and a single Diamond-back Moth made up the tally of routine fare.

Striped Wainscot - Portland Bill, 18th June 2014 © Martin Cade

...and thanks to Ken Dolbear for photos of a couple of the Marbled Whites that are now on the wing in quantity at the Bill:

 

17th June

Another short petrel tape-luring session in less satisfactory conditions than last night came up with just a single Storm Petrel trapped and ringed overnight at the Bill. There was very little on offer during the hours of daylight: the Hooded Crow lingered on at the Grove, 2 Mediterranean Gulls were at Ferrybridge and 12 Common Scoter, 9 Manx Shearwaters and 6 Sandwich Terns passed through off the Bill.

Singles of Marbled Yellow Pearl Evergestis extimalis and Obscure Wainscot provided the main interest amongst the immigrants/wanderers caught overnight in the Obs garden moth-traps; routine fare there included 27 Rusty-dot Pearl, 3 Diamond-back Moth and a Silver Y. Elsewhere, singles of Hummingbird Hawk-moth and Delicate were of note at Sweethill.

 

 

Obscure Wainscot (right, with a Shoulder-striped Wainscot) and Four Spotted - Portland Bill, 17th June 2014 © Martin Cade

 

...despite being a common inhabitant of the reedbeds at, for example, Radipole and Lodmoor, we think that last night's Obscure Wainscot is only the third recorded at Portland. Four Spotted is a much rarer moth nationally but is relatively routine around the southern third of the island where it's one of the most sought-after of the Portland specials at this time of year.

16th June

Overnight, 8 Storm Petrels were tape-lured and ringed (and several more seen but not caught) during a trapping session either side of midnight at the Bill tip. The daylight hours were rather less productive, although the slow beginnings of autumn passage was again signalled by the likes of 6 Mediterranean Gulls at Ferrybridge and 2 Curlew and 2 Black-headed Gulls through at the Bill. The Hooded Crow continued to roam around between the Bill and the Grove, 5 Chiffchaffs at the Bill included at least 2 new arrivals and singles of Redstart and Blackcap both remained in situ there.

A Bordered White at the Grove was the pick of the overnight catch of non-resident moths; immigrants/wanderers at the Obs included 32 Rusty-dot Pearl, 15 Diamond-back Moth, 3 Silver Y and 2 Cream-bordered Green Pea.

Storm Petrel, Bordered White and Hare - Portland Bill, the Grove and Ferrybridge, 16th and 15th June 2014 © Martin Cade (Storm Petrel and Bordered White) and Debby Saunders (Hare)

...eight petrels would be a paltry return for a couple of hours effort at sites on the West Coast or in the Northern Isles, and it wouldn't have been much cop here 20 years ago in a bygone era when our record was something like 32 in a night; however for the last decade or so we've struggled to catch at rates of more than about one an hour, which does get rather disheartening when you're already suffering from acute sleep deprivation. With fewer being seen by day as well we'd begun to think that maybe they'd forsaken Portland waters for good but hopefully that'll prove not to be the case.

15th June

With the Hooded Crow still about (mainly today at the Grove pig farm), a Marsh Harrier overhead at Weston late in the afternoon and a decent bit of movement on land and sea today was really pretty good for the time of year. A fair amount of cloud cover was likely instrumental in dropping a scatter of new arrivals at the Bill, where at least 4 Chiffchaffs and singles of Grey Heron, Redshank, Reed Warbler, Blackcap and Willow Warbler all made the tally; seawatching there produced 82 Common Scoter, 8 Gadwall, singles of Arctic Skua and Sandwich Tern and a trickle of Manx Shearwaters.

The cloud cover kept the temperature well up overnight and ensured moth-trapping was very busy; immigrants/wanderers at the Obs included 39 Rusty-dot Pearl, 5 Diamond-back Moth, 4 Silver Y, 2 Cream-bordered Green Pea and singles of Lesser Wax Moth (the first record for the Obs, following the first four island records in the Southwell area last year) and Delicate, whilst another single Delicate made the list at the Grove.

14th June

Mid-June came up with the goods again today when a Long-tailed Skua headed up-Channel past the Bill early in the morning; the Hooded Crow also showed up again and wandered widely between the Bill and the Grove pig farm, whilst a dispersing juvenile Treecreeper trapped at the Obs was an unexpected surprise. With more cloud in the sky conditions had perhaps looked favourable for dropping the odd tardy migrant; a passing Hobby on West Cliffs was of note, but aside from a couple of new Chiffchaffs at the Obs and a Grey Plover at Ferrybridge, precious little else materialised. Additional to the skua, seawatching at the Bill came up with 18 Common Scoter, 3 unseasonable Eider, the first Mediterranean Gull for a while and a handful of Manx Shearwaters, commic terns and Sandwich Terns.

Migrant lepidoptera included a scatter of Hummingbird Hawk-moths everywhere, a Clouded Yellow at the Bill, and 18 Rusty-dot Pearl, 4 Silver Y, a Diamond-back Moth and a Brown China-mark caught overnight in the Obs garden moth-traps.

 

Treecreeper - Portland Bill, 14th June 2014 © Martin Cade

...and two more of Portland's marquee lepidoptera that are now of the wing. The first cretaceus Silver-studded Blues were out today at Broadcroft BC (photo © Ken Dolbear):

...whilst as we mentioned a couple of days ago, Portland Ribbon Waves are now out (photo from the Grove © Martin Cade):

13th June

Friday the 13th might be unlucky for some but it was a good day for us, with two totally out of the blue oddities showing up when least expected on what was another day of heat and blazing sunshine. Hooded Crows are sufficiently rare visitors to Portland these days that a minor local twitch developed when one flew in from the north and lingered for a few hours at the Bill. Unfortunately it didn't remain long enough for the county lister who'd travelled furthest; however, his determined quest for his quarry led to the entirely serendipitous discovery, right in the heat of the middle of the day, of a nightingale in song in Top Fields. The date alone was enough to raise suspicions that it could be a Thrush Nightingale, but as it was resolutely invisible deep in cover these were only fully confirmed once recordings were made and checked out; the bird remained - still invisible bar a couple of the briefest of glimpses when it responded to visitor's sound lures - until dusk although its snatches of song became briefer and further between as the day went on. In comparison, the rest of the day's sightings were entirely inconsequential, but did include 3 Chiffchaffs, 2 Black-headed Gulls and a Grey Heron at the Bill, and 11 Common Scoter, 5 Sandwich Terns and a Whimbrel through on the sea there.

Moth immigrants in the Obs garden traps included 27 Rusty-dot Pearl and singles of Diamond-back Moth, Clouded Buff (the third this year and only the sixth ever) and Silver Y.

Hooded Crow - Portland Bill, 13th June 2014 © Martin Cade

 

...although the Thrush Nightingale was barely glimpsed, let along photographed, the recordings were enough to confirm its identity: