11th September

After yesterday's rain it was a pleasure to be out on a lovely still, bright day with a fair spread of migrants to get amongst. Whilst the numbers on the ground didn't approach anything like fall proportions most of the commoner September species had reasonable showings, including the likes of 70 Wheatears and 20 each of Sedge Warbler, Chiffchaff and Willow Warbler at the Bill. It was busier overhead, with hirundines streaming through the Ferrybridge area and 35 Grey Wagtails and 20 each of Yellow Wagtail and Tree Pipit through over the Bill. The only report from the sea was of a lone Balearic Shearwater through off the Bill.

Immigrant moth totals crept back up, with 12 Silver Y, 10 Rush Veneer, 4 Rusty-dot Pearl, 2 Dark Sword Grass, a Convolvulus Hawk-moth, a Pearly Underwing and, best of all, a Death's Head Hawk-moth at the Obs.

Although we've been lucky enough to catch/see several Death's Head Hawks at the Bill over the years this was only the second one that's actually made it into a moth-trap as opposed to being found settled on the grass near a trap or just randomly discovered somewhere else (we can remember one many years ago that, quite bizarrely, was first spotted settled on a beach hut a good 100 metres away by a chap 'scoping a bird from the Obs patio - surely the furthest distance that a moth has been ever been spotted and correctly ID'ed at Portland!) © Martin Cade:

And a couple of other photos from the Bill today - Little Owl and Grey Seal © Tony Hovell:

10th September

A washout of a morning precluded any serious coverage of the land and limited seawatching to the extent that no more than singles of Balearic Shearwater, Arctic Skua and Sandwich Tern were spotted passing in the murk off the Bill. The land did get limited looks during a brighter afternoon when a handful of phylloscs and singles of Snipe, Turtle Dove, Whinchat, Pied Flycatcher and Spotted Flycatcher surfaced at the Bill. Ferrybridge fared better, with 12 Bar-tailed Godwits, 3 Sanderling, 3 Curlew Sandpipers and a Yellow-legged Gull showed up amongst decent numbers of commoner fare.

The moth-traps were far too blown out to have expected much of a catch and the immigrant total didn't even make 10 individuals out of the 5 traps at the Obs.

After a slight lull in sightings Yellow-legged Gulls have been featuring again in recent days; this one, posing with a Lesser Black-back, was at Ferrybridge this afternoon © Martin Cade:

...whilst another was present there on Thursday © Pete Saunders:

And even without many birds Ferrybridge was looking great at sunset © Joe Stockwell:

9th September

Despite the conditions turning out decidedly more clement than expected migrant interest was minimal, with even the usually reliably numerous Wheatears reduced to barely more than a double figure total at the Bill, where there was little else of note either on the ground or overhead. The sea provided a little more interest, with 18 Balearic Shearwaters, a Manx Shearwater and an Arctic Skua amongst a light passage off the Bill. Ferrybridge came up with 14 Bar-tailed Godwits, 4 Sanderling, a Redshank and a Yellow-legged Gull amongst more routine fare.

Numbers of the commoner immigrant moths dropped away on a pretty breezy night, with singles of Convolvulus Hawk-moth and White-speck at the Grove the best of the oddities; a presumed Neglected Rustic was of note at the Obs.

Although a pretty raggedy specimen we think we're seeing enough on this moth trapped overnight at the Obs to be pretty sure it's a Neglected Rustic; if it is, it's only the second island record of this heathland species © Martin Cade

As promised, Nick Hopper has kindly sent us through a report on the second of his two nights sound recording earlier in the week - Monday night, 5th/6th September. If waders were the feature group on Sunday night then it was very much passerines that were to the fore on Monday. It was another very busy night with Tree Pipits dominating, but the highlight was 2 Ortolan Buntings: the first recorded  at 22.45hrs just after Nick had heard one a few hundred metres away whilst out logging calls by ear, and the second at 01.40hrs. The recording below is the best of the two - the last call is easily audible but the first call (at 1.5 seconds) is a little harder to hear. Tree Pipits were calling almost continuously for large parts of the night; clearly many birds were lingering in the air once drizzle had set in an hour or so after dark, but lulls in activity did suggest that eventually birds were moving on. To give an idea of the spectacle, at its peak over 1000 calls an hour were recorded! Robins were also prominent and peaked at around 100 calls an hour before tailing off significantly after midnight. Other passerine callers were Spotted and Pied Flycatcher and Yellow Wagtail. Among the non-passerines a Common Scoter was a good record, whilst the usual suspects - including Bar-tailed Godwit, Knot and Turnstone - featured amongst the waders; in contrast to the night before no Greenshank and just a single Green Sandpiper were logged. Interestingly, and as has been heard before during these nocturnal sessions, some waders were breaking into song: mostly Dunlin but also a Common Sandpiper seemingly attempting to sing.

8th September

The brisk westerly wind - that continued to freshen through the day - put a downer on proceedings today and although it was warm and sunny throughout it proved hard to get amongst what migrants were about. Limited visible passage included the customary hirundines, pipits and wagtails in none too impressive numbers and whilst it was easy enough to come across Wheatears - including 60 or more at the Bill - it was difficult to get any sort of handle on numbers of the likes of warblers keeping a low profile in cover; the first Turtle Dove of the autumn - at Coombefield - was easily the best of the grounded migrants. The Ferrybridge mix widened a little and included 14 Bar-tailed Godwits, 7 Knot and singles of Lapwing, Common Gull and Yellow-legged Gull.

Overnight mothing saw an increase in immigrant numbers if not variety, with 45 Rusty-dot Pearl, 19 Rush Veneer, 11 Diamond-back Moth, 9 Silver Y, 5 Marbled Piercer Cydia splendana and 1 White-speck making up the tally at the Obs; a Convolvulus Hawk-moth was found by day on the wall of the Bill toilet block. A small arrival of Western Conifer Seed bugs saw 2 caught in a moth-trap at Weston and singles found by day on the Obs front door and on the Bill toilet block. Clouded Yellows by day included 3 at Coombefield and several singles at the Bill.

On the ground, Wheatear remains just about the only routine migrant that could be described as even approaching conspicuous just at the moment © Steve Gantlett cleybirds

Ferrybridge continues to come up with some nice variety, with today's Common Gull and Lapwing both oddities for September © Pete Saunders

Although moth trapping was still uneventful it was interesting to see another little pulse of Marbled Piercers arrive in tandem with an obvious if small influx of common immigrants. Although usually considered a common resident in Britain - with numbers maybe boosted by immigration - we've got no evidence that this species is anything other than solely an immigrant to Portland: standing at just 30, this year's Obs total has been nothing special, but in the past our annual totals have been as high as 734 in 2014 when as many as 201 were trapped in a single night © Martin Cade

We had promised a nocturnal passage update a couple of evenings ago but Nick Hopper's most recent stay with us was so busy that it's taken far longer to go through the recordings than anticipated. Anyway, far better late than never, Nick's now sent us through his report on the first of the two nights - last Sunday, 4th/5th September. As we were hearing whilst we were listening from the Obs after dusk it proved to be a night for waders: 15 species were recorded, with calls heard pretty well throughout the night. The most regular callers were Dunlin, Ringed Plover and Common Sandpiper, with also many Green Sandpiper and Greenshank; Bar-tailed Godwit, Whimbrel, Turnstone, Curlew, Grey Plover, Oystercatcher, Redshank, Knot, Golden Plover and Sanderling were also all recorded on multiple occasions. Trying to get a handle on numbers is proving to be a fascinating issue, with one event illustrating just how difficult it is to be confident about exactly what's going on: whilst we were listening from the Obs patio a particularly low-flying party of Common Sandpipers that we'd taken from their calls to be maybe 2 or 3 birds were suddenly illuminated by the light from one of our moth-traps and revealed to be a flock of 12 birds! Passerines were represented by frequent Tree Pipit calls along with a few Robins, Yellow Wagtails and two each of Pied and Spotted Flycatcher. A single Arctic Tern also went through. More to come from Monday night's session where passerines take centre stage…

7th September

Whilst Portland might have an enviable reputation as one of the best spring fall sites in Britain the autumn is a very different kettle of fish and it maybe isn't widely appreciated just how much routine passage takes place in an eastward or westward direction along the mainland coast without ever impinging on the island - today was just such a case in point, with bags of birds within sight of the island on the Purbeck coast but precious little in any quantity getting out to Portland. Fortunately this hardship is considerably easier to bear when the compensation comes in the form of a quality rare as it did today when a Black Stork appeared overhead: first spotted over Ferrybridge during the afternoon, the bird got as far south as the middle of the island before quickly returning from whence it had come. It says something for the quality of the rest of the day's events that the only other oddities putting in an appearance were 2 Mute Swans flying past the Bill; common migrant numbers were dreadful everywhere, with little more at the Bill than a light passage of Swallows heading through into the freshening easterly and dribs and drabs of routine fare on the ground. Whilst commoner waders were still plentiful at Ferrybridge the Bar-tailed Godwit total there dwindled to just 7.

Moth trapping remained largely uneventful: a Vestal at Reap Lane and 2 Convolvulus Hawk-moths at the Obs were the only oddities amongst a handful of commoner immigrants.

First spotted grippingly low over Ferrybridge the Black Stork was next clocked over the Grove from where it headed south as far as Suckthumb before it turned tail and motored back to the mainland over Tout Quarry and Fortuneswell; this very long range record shot of it over Suckthumb was taken from our initial vantage point on Bill Hill - we don't hang around during pursuits of birds like this but it headed back northwards so rapidly that by the time we got to the Heights we received a call to say that it had already flown over Fortuneswell and been lost to view miles out over the harbour © Martin Cade

Trying to sound-lure and catch Swallows out in the open on a breezy, bright afternoon is rarely anything other than a mug's game and this bird looks to be treating today's attempt with utter contempt: 'do you really think I'm that stupid?' © Martin King

6th September

The damp, murky conditions overnight dropped a host of migrants down to an audible height but by dawn most had managed to get away; that said, there was still a decent enough spread of grounded and overflying arrivals to keep both the ringers and fieldworkers happy. The Bill area got the best of the coverage, which revealed 100 Wheatears, 50 Sedge Warblers and 20 phylloscs (Chiffchaffs on the up as Willow Warblers tail off) making up the bulk of the numbers on the ground and 41 Grey Wagtails being a good total amongst the hirundines, pipits and wagtails overhead; variety there included the likes of 6 Redstarts, 3 Whinchats, 2 Grasshopper Warblers and 2 Pied Flycatchers. Coverage elsewhere was scant but there were suggestions from the pockets of activity in certain areas of cover that the Bill might have been the poor relation when it came to phyllosc and flycatcher numbers. The millpond calm conditions hardly favoured seawatching, but 64 Common Scoter and an Eider were of note off the Bill. The Ferrybridge Bar-tailed Godwit total was still an unseasonably high 23, with 4 Sanderling and a Knot adding to the mix there.

Sadly, predictions of an immigrant moth bonanza in the muggy conditions proved wide of the mark, with 15 Rush Veneer, 14 Rusty-dot Pearl, 11 Silver Y, 2 Diamond-back Moth, 2 Dark Sword Grass and a White-speck constituting the overnight catch in the Obs traps.

Ferrybridge again came up with plenty of wader activity © Debby Saunders

And the overcast skies of recent days had cleared by evening © Martin Cade

5th September

A little bit more to show from today's efforts with overnight rain and low cloud dropping a limited selection of routine migrants. Wheatears continued to dominate on the ground, including 90 at the Bill, but with the exception of Robin none of the back-up cast there managed a double figure total and many didn't get beyond just singles. Elsewhere a count of 20 Common Sandpipers at Ferrybridge was exceptional (although it did come from the 'wrong' side of the island boundary so perhaps oughtn't to be included here) and a total of 43 Bar-tailed Godwits was very unusual for the autumn; 6 Black-tailed Godwits, 3 Sanderling and a Whimbrel were amongst the other waders there. A hint at an improvement on the sea saw 60 commic terns, 7 Arctic Skuas, a Balearic Shearwater and a Great Skua logged at the Bill.

Immigrant moth variety increased even if numbers were hardly impressive; the overnight totals at the Obs were 3 Rush Veneer and singles of Diamond-back Moth, Rusty-dot Pearl, Olive-tree Pearl, Convolvulus Hawk-moth, Small Mottled Willow and Silver Y.

After a night when a variety of waders could be heard in numbers over the Bill (more to follow on this tomorrow) it was no surprise that Ferrybridge fared well during the morning flying godwit flocks © Pete Saunders, settled mixed waders © Debby Saunders

Also at Ferrybridge this wagtail looked to be a decent candidate for a Blue-headed © Joe Stockwell

4th September

Rewards were few and far between again today although an early arrival of at least 34 Pale-bellied Brent Geese at Ferrybridge did provide something slightly out of the ordinary for the day's list. With the weather having remained pretty murky all night there were no real expectations of the land which at the Bill looked to be graced with little more than a thin scatter of Wheatears. The sea was also still quiet, with just 9 Common Scoter, 5 Manx Shearwaters and a single Balearic Shearwater through off the Bill. Other odds and ends of note included 2 Yellow-legged Gulls grounded at the Bill and 2 Mute Swans at Ferrybridge.

Another single Convolvulus Hawk-moth was the best of the overnight immigrant moth haul at the Obs that otherwise amounted to no more than 4 Rusty-dot Pearl and 3 Rush Veneer.

Although it's exceptionally early for them to be in these sort of numbers (there aren't that many September records of singles, let alone of a fair sized flock) this isn't actually the earliest autumn record of Pale-bellied Brent - there was a single at Ferrybridge on 31st August and 1st September 2012 © Angela Thomas

3rd September

Another day that'll be quickly forgotten, with little sign that the recent migration hiatus might be coming to an end. Yellow Wagtail, Wheatear and Sedge Warbler managed double figure totals at the Bill but there was precious little else of note on the land; despite the constantly freshening wind 3 Balearic Shearwaters provided the only interest on the sea there. Three Knot, a Sanderling and an Arctic Tern were the pick of the day's Ferrybridge sightings.

The immigrant moth tally dwindled still further, with just 4 Rusty-dot Pearl, 3 Rush Veneer and a Convolvulus Hawk-moth caught overnight at the Obs.

The absence of birds gives an opportunity to catch up with a couple of moths of interest from the last week. This Portland Moth (...the vernacular name commemorates a former Duchess of Portland rather than the Isle of Portland) at the Obs on 1st September was only the second island record during the modern era:

...whilst this Square-spot Dart at the Grove on 29th August was only the fourth island record; since all four records have occurred during the last five years we wonder if the species mightn't have become established somewhere around the edge of the island © Martin Cade:

2nd September

A day of the poorest quality, with an abject showing on the migrant front and an unforecast spell of persistent rain through the middle of the day dampening any enthusiasm for the legwork necessary to salvage something of interest. An Ortolan Bunting - presumably a mobile/elusive lingerer - popped up once at the Bill, where Wheatear and Yellow Wagtail on 32 and 15 apiece were the only routine migrants getting beyond low single figure totals; despite seemingly favourable conditions a lone Common Scoter was the only seabird of note there.

Mothing was as dreadful as the birding, with 6 Silver Y, 4 Rusty-dot Pearl, 2 Rush Veneer and a Dark Sword Grass the only immigrants caught overnight at the Obs.

A very autumnal scene of the island swathed in low cloud and drizzle © Mike Trew:

The long-staying Knot and a Yellow Wagtail at Ferrybridge © Mike Trew:

Also thanks to Pete and Debby Saunders for news of a nice colour-ring sighting from Ferrybridge on 31st August. This Sandwich Tern © Pete Saunders was ringed on Inish island, Lady's Island Lake, Co. Wexford, on 17th June; it was first noted on site as a fledged juvenile on 7th July but this is the first re-sighting since then. Evidently there have been plenty of sightings of birds from this project on the Irish Sea coasts of the UK but this is the first in Dorset (details per Tony Murray):

1st September

Busier today even if there weren't anything like the sort of numbers that might be expected at this time in the autumn. In decent enough conditions there was a fair spread of birds both on the ground and overhead: a Wryneck at Barleycrates Lane and one or more Ortolan Buntings wandering widely at the Bill provided the best of the quality, whilst sample numbers included 80 Wheatears, 50 Willow Warblers, 35 Yellow Wagtails, 19 Grey Wagtails and 15 Sedge Warblers at the Bill; further variety encompassed much of might have been expected along with minor oddities such a Short-eared Owl at the Bill and an increase to 9 in the Ferrybridge Knot total.

The overnight catch of immigrant moths at the Obs consisted of 23 Rusty-dot Pearl, 18 Rush Veneer, 5 Diamond-back Moth, 3 Dark Sword Grass, 2 Convolvulus Hawk-moth, a Silver Y and a Portland Moth - the latter constituting only the 2nd modern island record (the species was recorded twice on Chesil Beach during the 19th century).

31st August

A bit of a shocker to end the month with seemingly very promising-looking mainly overcast conditions dropping no more than the most meagre sprinkle of new migrants. Wheatear and Willow Warbler got into double figures - in the case of the latter only just - on the ground at the Bill where Yellow Wagtails, Tree Pipits and Grey Wagtails featured in similar numbers overhead, but quality amounted to little more than 3 Pied Flycatchers scattered around the centre and south of the island. A Balearic Shearwater through off the Bill was the only seabird worth a mention.

A single Convolvulus Hawk-moth visited nicotiana flowers at the Obs at dawn and dusk, whilst the overnight immigrant tally from the moth-traps there consisted of 25 Rush Veneer, 18 Rusty-dot Pearl, 7 Diamond-back Moth, 3 Silver Y and a Dark Sword Grass.

30th August

Weather-wise, another scorcher of a day but bird-wise barely more than lukewarm as migrants looked to have carried on without stopping. A Wryneck was a welcome if rather overdue newcomer at Barleycrates Lane but grounded arrivals were otherwise only thinly spread, with 3 Pied Flycatchers about the best on offer at the Bill and 29 Oystercatchers, 7 Redshank, 5 Black-tailed Godwits and singles of Little Stint, Curlew Sandpiper and Knot adding some nice variety to the wader selection at Ferrybridge. Diurnal migrants did make the most of the conditions, with the likes of 820 Swallows through in quick time over Ferrybridge.

Although there was a drop in overall numbers immigrant moth variety increased a little, with 27 Rusty-dot Pearl, 25 Rush Veneer, 4 Silver Y and singles of Diamond-back Moth, Vagrant Piercer, Convolvulus Hawk-moth and Small Mottled Willow caught overnight at the Obs; another Vagrant Piercer was caught at Weston.

Wryneck, Little Stint, Curlew Sandpiper, Redshanks and Knot - Barleycrates Lane and Ferrybridge, 30th August 2016 © Mark Eggleton (Wryneck), Debby Saunders (Little Stint, Redshanks and Knot) and Pete Saunders (Curlew Sandpiper)

Also, many thanks to Peter Moore petermorreblog for a selection of photos from his meanderings around the island yesterday that we'd stupidly overlooked during an episode of nocturnal sound overload last evening; Knot, Ringed Plover, Wheatear and Common Blues:

29th August

Something of rarity in the form of a lovely warm, sunny bank holiday today, even if was maybe a little too fair to hold for long many of the migrants that had dropped in at dawn. Another Ortolan Bunting that showed up briefly at the Obs/Crown Estate Field was the only real oddity of the day, but improved migrant numbers at the Bill included 75 Wheatears, 50 Willow Warblers, 30 Sedge Warblers and 20 Yellow Wagtails, along with singles of White Wagtail, Grasshopper Warbler and Pied Flycatcher amongst the lesser totals. Reports from elsewhere included 4 Black-tailed Godwits, 2 Sanderling and a Knot at Ferrybridge.

The quieter conditions saw immigrant moth numbers improve a little, with 38 Rusty-dot Pearl, 35 Rush Veneer, 7 Silver Y, 3 Diamond-back Moth, 3 Dark Sword Grass and a Convolvulus Hawk-moth caught overnight at the Obs.

Black-tailed Godwits and Holly Blue - Ferrybridge and Southwell, 29th August 2016 © Pete Saunders and Tony Hovell

We were very pleased to receive today Nick Hopper's report on his nocturnal recording session last Thursday night (25th/26th August). The headline news was undoubtedly the logging of 4 Ortolan Buntings, but it was a pretty remarkable night all round, including exceptional passages of both Tree Pipit and Robin. It was such a promising-looking night with heavy cloud cover descending and occasional pulses of drizzly rain that Nick spent quite some time in the field logging the passage by ear - including hearing 2 of the Ortolans that were also picked up by the recorder; both these birds were heading north and there was no reason to suppose that all four Ortolan loggings - at 22.55, 23.27, 00.35 and 02.06 - didn't refer to different individuals. The night's total of 1372 Tree Pipit calls or multiples of calls logged (some were double and triple calls given in very quick succession and counted as one) certainly reflected the very strong movement that was obvious to the ear. The total of 236 Robin calls was quite unexpected given the dearth of birds being recorded by day (but does reflect an August passage - of departing British birds? - that used to be picked up by ringing activities at the Bill but seemed to have dwindled in recent years). Other interest during the night included 47 flycatcher calls (both Pied and Spotted represented), 84 unidentified passerine calls, 17 Yellow Wagtail calls/small groups of calls, an early Golden Plover, several groups of Whimbrel and Dunlin, 3 Ringed Plover and singles of Common Sandpiper, Turnstone and Common Snipe.

28th August

A far drearier day than had been anticipated which, in tandem with a brisk south-westerly and occasional drizzly spells, did nothing for the quality of the birding. Numbers on the land were reduced to just ones and twos of a few expected species, with singles of Redstart and Pied Flycatcher about the best on offer at the Bill. Ferrybridge fared better with reports of 4 Little Stints, 3 Sanderling, 2 Curlew Sandpipers, a Knot and a Whimbrel amongst the more regular fare. The sea got plenty of attention but returned nothing more than 9 Common Scoter, 5 Manx Shearwaters, a Balearic Shearwater and a Great Skua through off the Bill.

The strength of the wind spoilt overnight mothing, with the immigrant tally at the Obs consisting of just 25 Rusty-dot Pearl, 15 Rush Veneer, 6 Silver Y and 2 Diamond-back Moth.

27th August

Although there was a fair list of migrants to show - including at least one mobile Ortolan Bunting seen a couple of times at the Bill and an Osprey that flew past there during the evening - there was a feeling that perhaps the day didn't really live up to its potential after a brisk easterly wind had sprung up overnight and dawn was far from clear. Totals from the Bill/Southwell included 100 Wheatears, 50 each of Yellow Wagtail and Willow Warbler, 9 Spotted Flycatchers, 6 each of Tree Pipit and Redstart, 4 Pied Flycatchers and singles of Whinchat, Grasshopper Warbler, Reed Warbler and Firecrest, with a similar array in most other spots that got a visit; 14 Black-tailed Godwits and a Knot were the pick of the waders at Ferrybridge.

Immigrant moth interest remained at the ticking along level with, for example, 87 Rusty-dot Pearl, 26 Rush Veneer, 22 Silver Y, 4 Dark Sword Grass, 2 Diamond-back Moth and singles of Vestal and Scarce Bordered Straw caught overnight at the Obs.

Black-tailed Godwits, Firecrest and Pied Flycatcher - Ferrybridge and Southwell © Pete Saunders (Blackwits) and Debby Saunders (Firecrest and Pied Fly)