8th November

Much improved birding conditions - millpond calm and overcast - and a nice pulse of late movement today. It was certainly a day to be looking skyward or out to sea with precious little of what was on the move actually dropping in: 4 Cranes heading west over Portland Harbour provided the rarity highlight, whilst another Spoonbill - over Ferrybridge - added to the recent rash of records of that local oddity. Visible passage over the Bill included 1700 Wood Pigeons and 210 Chaffinches by way of numbers and the likes of singles of Merlin and Short-eared Owl as minor quality amongst the selection of seasonable back-up; it was quieter on the ground although the Siberian Lesser Whitethroat popped up again and singles of Woodcock and Mistle Thrush were of interest. The sea there was busier than it has been for weeks, with auks now plentiful offshore and 69 Brent Geese, 24 Common Scoter, 6 Teal, 4 Red-throated Divers, 3 Great Skuas and a late Manx Shearwater through. Additional to the Spoonbill, movers over Ferrybridge included 6 Goosander, 3 Lapwings and singles of Great Northern Diver and Mute Swan.

Two Pearly Underwings and a Dark Sword Grass were the only immigrant moths trapped overnight at the Obs.

It's been a good year to have been peering skyward at Ferrybridge/Portland Harbour - the autumn alone has come up with the likes of both White and Black Stork, two Cranes and a Sabine's Gull, to which can be added today's party of four more Cranes © Matt Phipps:

...the Cranes aside, there was plenty more overhead action at Ferrybridge through the morning including Spoonbill, Great Northern Diver, Mute Swan and five Goosanders © Pete Saunders:

7th November

A really raw morning in a blasting north-easterly saw some more visible passage get going but it remained very quiet on the ground. A Hawfinch was a nice surprise at the Bill where Chaffinches were pulsing through in some quantity - 380 passed over the Obs in a couple of hours - and other travellers included the usual mix of Wood Pigeons, thrushes, finches and Reed Buntings in lower numbers. Wildfowl on the move included 6 Teal and 5 Goosanders through at Ferrybridge, whilst later in the day 2 Avocets pitched in at Portland Harbour.

The Hawfinch did drop in several times at the Obs but it afforded the best views when it was bombing around overhead:

Ferrybridge fly-bys included Goosanders and Teal © Pete Saunders:

The oddest sight of the day were the two Avocets bobbing around 150m out in Portland Harbour - not what you expect to spot when you're scanning around for divers and grebes © Geoff Pollitt:

One of the morning's Redwings at the Obs looked to be at least a candidate coburni Icelandic Redwing - it immediately stood out as the darkest, swarthiest-looking Redwing we've seen so far this autumn and with a wing length of 127mm it was by some margin the longest-winged Redwing handled in recent weeks:

...for comparison, this iliacus Scandinavian Redwing was trapped a little later:

The rear flanks/undertail coverts of the two birds - the putative coburni on the left and the iliacus on the right:

6th November

A note for Obs members: we've recently been mailing out copies of the 2015 annual report but there are a few members for whom we don't have a current/correct postal address; if you think you're a paid-up Obs member and haven't received your report please get in touch so we can clear up these issues. Thanks.

The recent switch to a colder northerly airflow hasn't prompted nearly as much late passage as might have been expected and today continued in that vein. Wood Pigeons were again departing to the south in relatively small numbers - including 1500 over the Bill - but most of the day's other movement involved a light trickle of northbound thrushes and finches, including 130 Chaffinches over the Bill; a tardy lone Swallow also passed through at the Bill. Numbers on the ground looked to be very low everywhere: the Siberian Lesser Whitethroat remained at the Obs, but a single Woodcock was the only other minor oddity among the handful of new thrushes, Blackcaps, Chiffchaffs, Goldcrests and Reed Buntings at the Bill. Seawatching at the Bill came up with 16 Common Scoter, 3 Red-throated Divers, 2 Brent Geese and a Wigeon, a Pomarine Skua passed through Portland Harbour and 19 Bar-tailed Godwits, 2 Mallards, 2 Grey Plover and singles of Pintail, Redshank and Kittiwake were the best of the bunch at Ferrybridge.

5th November

Clear and mainly sunny but a real chill in the air today. The birds didn't seem to be unduly bothered by the slide in temperature and, bar visible passage perking up a little, it was relatively quiet. Chaffinches were prominent amongst the overhead movers, with 150 through at the Bill, but Wood Pigeons didn't get going to the extent that might have been expected: 800 headed south over Ferrybridge but very few made it out as far as the Bill; 12 Redpolls, 3 Merlins, a Common Buzzard and a Woodlark were among the back-up cast at the Bill. Odds and ends on the ground included the lingering Siberian Lesser Whitethroat at the Obs and a Woodcock at the Bill. Seawatch reports included 30 Brent Geese, a Red-throated Diver and an Arctic Skua off the Bill, whilst a Pintail was again at Ferrybridge.

Moth activity tailed off, with 7 Diamond-back Moth, 4 each of Rush Veneer and Silver Y, 2 Pearly Underwing, a Rusty-dot Pearl and a Dark Sword Grass making up the immigrant tally at the Obs; elsewhere a Gem was trapped at the Grove.

It's been a poor autumn for Woodlarks so one that was actually settled for a while was appreciated:

4th November

A disappointing day on several levels: the forecast brief showers at midday manifested themselves as several hours worth of persistent rain, whilst the high hopes for a decent arrival of grounded migrants came to nothing; by way of some compensation overnight mothing was far more productive than might have been expected. The overcast skies of dawn dropped precious little migrant-wise, with even thrushes reduced to barely more than singles figure totals at the Bill, where the only real interest came in the form of the lingering Siberian Lesser Whitethroat, 2 Merlins, 2 Black Redstarts and singles of Short-eared Owl and Dartford Warbler. Elsewhere there were 2 Yellow-browed Warblers at Avalanche Hump and another at the Craft Centre, 2 Black Redstarts at Blacknor and Ferrybridge was busy with a 2 Pale-bellied Brents and the Black Brant amongst 2600 Dark-bellied Brents; a lone Pintail was also a minor oddity there.

Immigrant moth numbers bounced back after yesterday's low point, with 49 Diamond-back Moth, 38 Rusty-dot Pearl, 21 Rush Veneer, 6 Silver Y, 2 Dark Sword Grass and singles of Olive-tree Pearl, Pearly Underwing and White-speck trapped overnight at the Obs.

The Ferrybridge Pintail and Fieldfare and Grey Wagtail at Southwell © Pete Saunders:

3rd November

Although the volume of general passage is certainly slowing up as autumn winds down there's still more than enough going on for plenty of entertaining birding, with today's nice quiet conditions allowing for lots of coverage. Overhead passage provided all the numbers, with 4000 Wood Pigeons, 200 Chaffinches and lower totals of a good variety of thrushes and finches moving over the Bill through the morning. On the ground another Serin showed up at the Bill, where 2 each of Woodcock and Short-eared Owl, and singles of White Wagtail, Black Redstart, Siberian Lesser Whitethroat (for its fifth day), Dartford Warbler and Yellow-browed Warbler were among the lowish numbers of commoner migrants; elsewhere there were 2 more Yellow-browed Warblers at Avalanche Hump and 4 Black Redstart at Portland Castle. In terms of both quantity and variety the sea has been the poor relation for many weeks so signs of a slight upturn were very welcome, with 100 Kittiwakes, 19 Common Scoter, 10 Brent Geese, 3 each of Red-throated Diver and Red-breasted Merganser, and a Wigeon through off the Bill.

Despite the plunging temperature seeing moth activity reduced almost to the point of being non-existent an Oak Rustic - a new species for Portland - made it into a trap at the Obs; 2 Silver Y and a single Dark Sword Grass were the only immigrants logged there.

The third Serin in a fortnight was, like the first of the three, a young female:

On what was probably the poorest moth night since sometime in the spring the long-awaited first Oak Rustic for Portland was a pretty unexpected capture at the Obs:

There was a time when the standard calls at this time of year were things like the wheezing and chupping of a Brambling...

...but the soundscape is changing and these days you're almost as likely to hear a Yellow-browed Warbler (and in today's case, whilst recording the Yellow-browed Warbler a Siberian Lesser Whitethroat suddenly pops up as well):

2nd November

Chillier today but in quiet, sunny conditions it was pleasantly birdable. A Stone Curlew was an unexpected albeit brief visitor to the Bill where yet another new Yellow-browed Warbler dropped in, but these oddities aside the day's happenings were much as might be expected given the conditions. Overnight, heavy cloud cover had dropped a host of overflying migrants to audible height, with a succession of Golden Plovers of note amongst the more routine thrushes and other seasonable migrants, but a clearance before dawn had given most of these birds a chance to get away. At the Bill, diurnal overhead passage included 350 Wood Pigeons and 50 Redwings amongst a steady but generally light movement akin to recent days; it was a similar situation on the ground, where variety included 3 Black Redstarts, 2 Woodcock and a late Whitethroat. Waders at Ferrybridge included 15 Bar-tailed Godwits, 5 Grey Plover and 3 Redshank.

Mothing slowed up with the drop in temperature: a lone White-speck was the best of the 26 individual immigrants trapped overnight at the Obs, whilst a Delicate was the pick of the catch at Sweethill.

The Stone Curlew was Portland's latest record and the first to occur in November © Ross Underwood posbrookpics 

Just lately the Ferrybridge wader selection has been more varied than's been the case in most recent winters, with Grey Plovers present there daily © Pete Saunders (settled) and Debby Saunders (flying):

1st November

Another lovely day, at least until mid-afternoon when a freshening breeze and sharp drop in the temperature heralded the arrival of a cold front slipping down from the north. Two Spoonbills that dropped in at Ferrybridge and a Yellow-browed Warbler that spent the afternoon in the Obs garden provided the only rarity interest on a day when commoner migrants weren't moving overhead in quite the numbers that might have been expected and weren't grounded in any quantity at all. Visible passage over the Bill included relatively small numbers of many of the expected late autumn migrants, amongst which 150 Wood Pigeons, 115 Starlings and 13 Redpolls were of note. The situation there on the ground was similar, with 10 Reed Buntings and 3 Mistle Thrushes amongst the thin spread of routine fare; elsewhere, a Kingfisher was an unexpected sighting at Reap Lane. Three Brent Geese and a lone Teal passed through on the sea at the Bill, whilst 270 Mediterranean Gulls, 25 Bar-tailed Godwits, 2 Grey Plovers and a Shelduck were amongst the waterfowl at Ferrybridge.

Two each of Olive-tree Pearl and Gem at Sweethill were the pick of the night's immigrant moths; the tally at the Obs comprised 33 Rusty-dot Pearl, 20 Rush Veneer, 13 Diamond-back Moth, 4 Silver Y and 2 Dark Sword Grass.

The second Spoonbill record in a little over a week © Matt Phipps 

Not that there's any reason to suppose that some Chaffinches passing through the Netherlands don't later pass through Portland, but we can't recollect that we've actually ever had any tangible evidence of that fact until this morning when this ringed bird dropped into Culverwell:

31st October

A gloriously mild, sunny day but probably a bit too pleasant to have expected migrants to have dropped in any quantity. A Siberian Lesser Whitethroat that showed up at Reap Lane was certainly different to the lingering Obs garden individual that was still present; the lingering at Serin that showed up once at the Bill Quarry provided the only other rarity interest. Late passage was concentrated overhead, where Wood Pigeons and Chaffinches in particular were conspicuous (including 500 Wood Pigeons over the Bill); Redpolls also reached a double figure total for the first time this autumn at the Bill. It was quieter on the ground where a lone Ring Ouzel was the best on offer at the Bill.

Immigrant moth interest continued to tick over, with totals from the Obs traps of 35 Rusty-dot Pearl, 18 Rush Veneer, 13 Diamond-back Moth, 3 Silver Y and a White-speck.

30th October

A clearer day with a more conspicuous easterly breeze was quieter all round until mid-afternoon when a Daurian Shrike was discovered at Verne Common; sadly, it proved frustratingly difficult to pin down and was seen only once more before dusk. The Dusky Warbler remained in a private garden at Southwell and the Serin from nine days ago made a surprise reappearance around the Bill, but oddity-wise the only others reports were of the Siberian Lesser Whitethroat still at the Obs and a single Yellow-browed Warbler at the Craft Centre. Among the less regular migrants Black Redstarts were scattered everywhere (far from comprehensive coverage came up with more than 25) and 2 Merlins and singles of Little Egret, Woodlark, Mistle Thrush and Firecrest were at the Bill. The common migrant tally included 840 Starlings north over Blacknor but little else of particular note amongst the thinnish spread of expected fare. 

The cooler, breezier conditions saw moth numbers take a dip: the 14th Radford's Flame Shoulder of the autumn was a notable capture at the Obs, but the immigrant tally there otherwise consisted of just 59 Rusty-dot Pearl, 17 Rush Veneer, 5 Silver Y, 3 each of Diamond-back Moth and Pearly Underwing, and singles of Dark Sword Grass, Pearly Underwing and Clancy's Rustic.

Many thanks to Bruce Park for allowing up to grab a quick back of the camera record photo of the shrike to post here - with any luck it'll appear again but if it doesn't we'll try and nick Bruce's original photos later in the week. Although initially put out as a generic 'Isabelline' Shrike, we can't see this being anything other than a first-winter Daurian Shrike:

29th October

Another excellent day around the island with a nice spread of oddities for the weekend visitors to get amongst. A Red-throated Pipit would have been the highlight for most but sadly it passed straight through along West Cliffs at the Bill; however, there was instant compensation when a Little Bunting was netted in the Crown Estate Field, even it this too was hardly obliging once released. Singles of Siberian Chiffchaff and Siberian Lesser Whitethroat showed up near Church Ope Cove and at the Obs respectively, whilst 6 more Yellow-browed Warblers were dotted about the centre and south of the island; the Dusky Warbler also showed up again in a private garden at Southwell. A varied list of next tier less regulars included 4 Woodlarks over the centre of the island, a minimum of 20 Black Redstarts at the Bill with plenty more elsewhere, the Turtle Dove still at Southwell, a Ring Ouzel at the Bill and at least 3 Firecrests scattered about. Commoner migrants weren't exactly plentiful on the ground although most of the expected species were represented, but there was plenty of action overhead where thrushes and Chaffinches in particular were moving through in some quantity (many very high up and nearly escaping attention but for their calls).

The moth-traps were very busy, with the immigrant tally at the Obs consisting of 253 Rusty-dot Pearl, 106 Rush Veneer, 13 Diamond-back Moth, 4 Pearly Underwing, 3 Silver Y, 2 Dark Sword Grass, an Olive-tree Pearl and a Vagrant China-mark Diasemiopsis ramburialis. 

The trickle down of oddities that arrived in the country on the back of the long run of easterlies earlier this month continued unabated, with Little Bunting, Siberian Lesser Whitethroat and Yellow-browed Warblers (this one at Southwell © Nick Stantiford) among today's haul:

The Southwell Dusky Warbler was also about again today © Debby Saunders...

...the Turtle Dove lingered on and there were plenty of Black Redstart about © Tony Hovell:

The quiet, mild weather of the last few nights has resulted in very good moths catches; a Vagrant China-mark was the best of the immigrants at the Obs:

Perhaps surprisingly, today's Little Bunting was only the sixth ever ringed at PBO - and it's probably not being too unkind to say that it was a rather scratchy-looking individual: in particular it looked as though the feathers of the white eye-ring had some sort of affliction, with many having been lost around both eyes:

It was reasonably straightforward to age as a first-winter: there was a rather obvious moult discontinuity in the greater coverts even if that's barely visible in our inept attempt at photographing the wing...

...and the tail feathers were nicely pointed:

The tail pattern of the presumed Siberian Lesser Whitethroat wasn't the best we've seen, but probably passable nonetheless:

28th October

Quiet, heavily overcast anticyclonic conditions look to be becoming the order of the day and there was another small arrival of mainly expected late migrants. A Serin that showed up at the Obs was the best of the newcomers, with further interest provided 2 Yellow-browed Warblers at both Church Ope Cove and the Grove Cliffs, the Black Brant again at Ferrybridge, a Lapland Bunting north over Blacknor, the Turtle Dove still at Reap Lane, a Hen Harrier west offshore at the Bill (perhaps the recent lingerer departing?), 2 Merlins, a Woodcock and a Firecrest at the Bill and a spread of well into double figures of Black Redstarts. Routine passage was rather subdued both on the ground and overhead: many of the expected migrants were represented but there were no really significant counts worth a mention. Among the settled winterers there was a decent total of more than 1800 Dark-bellied Brent Geese at Ferrybridge, where the presumably also now wintering Bar-tailed Godwit total again topped 20.

The fresh breeze that sprung up yesterday afternoon and continued well into the night spoilt overnight mothing, with a noticeable drop in immigrant numbers; totals from the Obs traps included 47 Rusty-dot Pearl, 25 Rush Veneer, 6 Diamond-back Moth, 2 White-speck, a Pearly Underwing and a Silver Y.

Today's male Serin was an altogether finer specimen than last week's dowdy female...

...and we seem to be seeing all the expected features in, for example, the great coverts and the tail to be very confident that it's a bird of the year.

27th October

There was something of an after the Lord Mayor's banquet feel about proceedings today, with nothing to match the excitement of the last couple of days. The presumably returning Black Brant (that was first reported getting on for three weeks ago further up the Fleet) paid its first visit of the winter to Ferrybridge, the Hen Harrier was again at the Bill and the Turtle Dove remained at Reap Lane but the only newcomers of any significance were a brief Yellow-browed Warbler at the Obs, a lone Bearded Tit flying north over the Bill and a Coal Tit at Wakeham; among the less common migrants there were at least 7 Black Redstarts, a Merlin and a Firecrest at the Bill. Routine passage included a fair bit of overhead movement, for example 200 Chaffinches over the Bill in quick time after dawn, but on the ground it was relatively quiet everywhere.

A party of around a dozen Bottle-nosed Dolphins lingered off the Bill all day.

The return of favourable mild air has seen immigrant moth interest perk up; a Blair's Mocha at Reap Lane was the overnight highlight, with totals of routine fare from the Obs of 96 Rusty-dot Pearl, 87 Rush Veneer, 8 Diamond-back Moth, 3 Silver Y, 2 Small Purple Flat-body Agonopterix purpurea (a rare visitor to the Bill that has only occurred during spells of immigration), 2 Dark Sword Grass, a Gem and a White-speck.

The Black Brant at Ferrybridge © Pete Saunders:

Grey Plover at Ferrybridge, Black Redstart at the Bill and a colour-ringed juvenile Peregrine at the Bill © Peter Moore petermooreblog:

...we haven't got a clue where the Peregrine originates from but we're sure someone will let us know pretty soon; the characters on the ring aren't clear on this low resolution crop but Peter suggests that they're 23.

Despite being a relatively frequent immigrant Blair's Mocha seems usually to pass us by - the all-time island total is only just in double figures so last night's raggedy specimen at Reap Lane is actually quite notable:

...and whilst having the camera out to do the mocha we thought it wouldn't do any harm to get a better photo of one of several of our recent Radford's Flame Shoulders before they were released: quite apart from there being quite a demand from folk wanted to twitch them, we'd held on to a few of these apparent males on the off chance of catching a female to maybe secure a pairing:

Following our comments a couple of days ago on Red-flanked Bluetail ageing it was interesting to today receive a message on the subject from Stephen Menzie who concurs with our conclusion that the Portland bird was an adult. Stephen was fortunate enough to handle what looks to be a somewhat bluer than usual first-winter Bluetail at Falsterbo a couple of autumns ago:

This individual is straightforward enough to age on the greater coverts alone: the three new inner feathers contrast nicely with the seven retained juvenile pale-tipped outer feathers; also notice how, for instance, this individual has typically narrower and far less blue primary coverts than the Portland bird. With regard to our bird, Stephen remarked on the apparent striking contrast between the tertials and the secondaries/primaries but pointed out that on close inspection there is some blue visible on the innermost two secondaries - in his opinion a feature that a first-winter would never show. On the basis of the evidence of these two individuals we'd venture that tail feather shape is a pretty ropey ageing feature - to our eyes it looks as though it would be little more than a toss-up deciding which tail accorded closer to each age class.