Little meaningful coverage today in constantly wet and increasing windy conditions. There were plenty of migrants about in wherever shelter could be found but quality was limited to the Red-breasted Flycatcher still at Avalanche Road; the news services reported a sighting of the Radde's Warbler at the Bill but searches for it both before and after this sighting drew a blank.
As is so often the case, a change in the weather seemed to be just what was needed to liven up proceedings once again, although it was very much a case of quality over quantity in the assemblage of birds present. With a brisk southeasterly to contend with, getting amongst any new migrants was fairly hard work but the rewards were there to be had with a brief Radde's Warbler at the Bill and showier Red-breasted Flycatcher at the Avalanche Hump the highlights from what was otherwise a fairly routine selection of oddities that also included 2 Firecrests, a Merlin, a Ring Ouzel and the lingering Wryneck. An influx of Goldcrests saw them move to the top of the grounded migrant leader board, with a constant throughput at the Bill totalling a good 75; however, little else responded to the conditions in the same way, with Chiffchaff numbers notably reduced. At Ferrybridge, the winter brent flock continued to increase, with 3 Pale-bellied Brents amongst the c500 Dark-bellied Brents. Reduced totals were also the way of things overhead, with 370 Linnets, 155 Meadow Pipits, 110 Goldfinches and 100 Jackdaws the best of it over the Bill and 40 Redwings and 8 Crossbills of note over Ferrybridge. The sea was extremely busy for periods, with a large feeding flock of Gannets off the Bill, where 750 Mediterranean Gulls, 300 Kittiwakes, 165 Black-headed Gulls, 4 Arctic Skuas, 2 Pintail and singles of Sooty Shearwater, Teal, Tufted Duck and Caspian Gull were among the varied list of lingerers or movers.
Far too windy for a full complement of mist-nets at the Bill today but tapped into a nice arrival of Goldcrests that made up 27 of the 61 birds ringed. Totting up of the totals also revealed that yesterday we broke the all-time Stonechat record - now 81 ringed this year (previous record 78 in 2024)
Unlike on several recent days, the overcast skies of dawn didn't clear as today went on and this appeared to result in an almost continuous arrival of Chiffchaffs in particular in off the sea: well over 250 passed through at the Bill, with significant aggregations reported from several spots further up island. To a lesser extent, Goldcrests were involved in this arrival with 40 through at the Bill, but thrushes were notably few in conditions that often also favour them. Less frequent migrants didn't feature prominently, with 2 Ring Ouzels and singles of Marsh Harrier, Woodcock, Black Redstart and Firecrest as good as it got at the Bill, where the lingering Wryneck did continue to pop up from time to time; elsewhere, at least another 4 Black Redstarts were dotted about and 2 Grey Plovers were new at Ferrybridge. Overhead passage perked up a little, with 670 Linnets, 380 Meadow Pipits, 96 Siskins, 90 Chaffinches, 82 Starlings and 40 Jackdaws amongst other through over the Bill. Auks tailed off at the Bill, but 500 Mediterranean Gulls were still offshore and 2 Arctic Skuas and a Great Northern Diver passed by.
Chiffchaffs firmly to the fore on the ringing front, totalling 72 of today's 116 birds ringed at the Bill: amazingly, more have now been ringed this September and October than in all but one whole year in PBO's history...and we're usually thought of as a spring migrant hotspot!
Nothing else really got a look in ringing-wise, but a Wheatear was the first for the month and a Firecrest only the fourth - our numbers of the latter have been far lower than at some other SW migrant spots
In the absence of any of the avian surprises of the last few days, today's birding was all fairly low-key, with the assemblage of birds more or less what you would expect for the time of year. Seasonal fare from around the Bill included an impressive count of 8 Dartford Warblers, as well as 6 Black Redstarts, 2 Merlin and singles of Marsh Harrier and Woodlark, whilst late records of Whimbrel (the long term lingerer), Yellow Wagtail, Tree Pipit, Whitethroat and Whinchat were also logged; elsewhere, there were several addition Black Redstarts as well as a single Firecrest. Suitably brief appearances of both the Wryneck and Cetti's Warbler at the Bill confirmed their presence for their sixth and eighth days respectively, but the Red-backed Shrike seemed to moved on to pastures new. Among the day's common migrants totals the 100 Chiffchaffs at the Bill looked be just a small proportion of the whole island tally that was surely up around the 500 mark, whilst overhead 60 Chaffinches and 55 Siskins were fair totals on a day when there wasn't really that much moving. The sea chipped in with its now customary several thousand auks and 500 Mediterranean Gulls, together with a lone Balearic Shearwater and an increase to 45 Common Gulls.
After yesterday's Stone Curlew action we'd imagined that as night fell the flock - if they were still about - might start to get vocal so at dusk we spent a while on a high point in Kingbarrow Quarry with the sound recorder ready but drew a blank. What we hadn't realised until today when we got a chance to run through the previous night's nocmig recording from the Obs was that one or more of the birds had actually been overhead there in the early hours of Wednesday morning: the first calls were logged at 02:03am, another louder sequence cropped up at 03:09am and between 05:15am and 05:51am distant calls could be heard quite frequently. Here are four little sequences of calls picked from those periods:
Progressively quieter on the ringing front as the anticyclonic conditions continue. Down to 60 new birds at the Bill today among which Chiffchaffs made up half the total; no surprises amongst the selection of other expected October migrants.
Female Blackcap and Chiffchaff in the apple tree this evening. Migrant birds in the garden today: 7 Chiffchaffs, 6 Blackcaps and 3 Goldcrests, also several Robins
With dreary, anticyclonic conditions firmly established, diminishing returns are inevitably setting in. However, it's the middle of October so just about anything's possible and today's utterly out-of-the-blue arrivals were a party of 6 Stone Curlews that looked as though they'd just flown onto the island when they were first spotted over the north end; after settling for a while the flock broke up and although there were later sightings here and there - some even wandering as far south as the Bill - they proved tricky to pin down and didn't aggregate together again. Apart from this exceptional event, today was for the most part a lower-key repeat of the week so far, with the Red-backed Shrike and Wryneck remaining at the Bill and 8 Black Redstarts, 2 Dartford Warblers, a Cattle Egret, a Short-eared Owl and a Ring Ouzel amongst others providing further scarcity interest there. On the ground, Chiffchaffs returned to prominence including upwards of 100 at the Bill, with late-ish singles of Redstart, Garden Warbler and Whitethroat of note amongst the back-up migrants; overhead, the usual suspects were all represented in decent supply, with 2 Merlins over the Bill and a lone Crossbill over the north of the island the best of the oddities. The sea was again carpeted in auks including an absolute minimum of 5000 off the Bill, where 21 Dark-bellied Brent Geese, 6 Arctic Skuas, 3 Sooty Shearwaters, 2 Pale-bellied Brent Geese, 2 Wigeon and a Manx Shearwater also passed through.
We've had some pretty good birds this year but to some extent most have been things that weren't all that shocking - if you walk around the Crown Estate Field often enough you're eventually going to stumble across a Booted Warbler (...it'll be a Lanceolated Warbler next) and if you spend long enough staring at the sea you're eventually going to jam a Fea's Petrel - but for sheer unexpectedness we're not at all sure that anyone would have chalked a flock of 6 Stone Curlews on their card for today, so we can well imagine Dave Foot's shock when he spotted these birds overhead. They were a fine sight in the air...
Ringing numbers dropping slightly each day in the prevailing samey conditions: 77 new birds at the Bill today with 31 Chiffchaffs putting them firmly back at the top of the numbers; otherwise, only Blackcap made double figures but late-ish singles of Redstart, Whitethroat and Garden Warbler of note.
Not quite such a productive day today with the mizzly damp of yesterday's dawn a telling absentee from proceedings; however, there were still more than enough new arrivals to get amongst and the continuing Red-backed Shrike and Wryneck gave the day-visiting listers something to occupy themselves with. Robin was the day's chief winner, with a nice arrival of well in excess of 100 at the Bill, where the three common thrushes numbered in the several dozens each but Chiffchaff and Goldcrest were noticeably depleted after their days of excess. The back-ups were varied and included the first Woodcock of the autumn, together with the lingering Siberian Lesser Whitethroat, 3 Black Redstarts, 2 Dartford Warblers and singles of Short-eared Owl, Merlin, Jack Snipe and Ring Ouzel at the Bill and several more of the same elsewhere. Overhead passage too slowed up a little, with 11 Lapwings and 2 Golden Plovers the best of reduced total over the Bill. In contrast, the sea was more interesting than it had been yesterday, with 500 Kittiwakes, 31 Brent Geese, 4 Arctic Skuas, 3 Balearic Shearwaters, 3 Wigeon, 3 Pochard, 3 Sandwich Terns, 2 Pintails and a Greylag Goose a nice selection of rewards amongst the continuing plethora of auks.
A Robin and thrush day in the mist-nets at the Bill today, with 23 Robins, 16 Blackbirds and 10 Song Thrushes making up over half of the day's total of 92 ringed; Chiffchaff and Goldcrest reduced to just single figures each; third Dartford Warbler of the month the best of the oddities.
Unexpectedly rammed-full moth-traps this morning although the numbers were mainly due to a huge increase in Large Yellow Underwings rather than quality migrants; a Clifden Nonpareil - the second of the year - easily the highlight at the Obs
Wow, what an exciting migration day. The portents were there right from the outset - in fact they'd been perfectly accurately forecast by the weather services - with mizzly rain in the air and a brisk northeasterly blowing as dawn broke and these ingredients more than delivered on their promise. A Red-backed Shrike in the Pulpit Bushes was the bird of the day, as much because this is a species that's been been inexplicably absent for four years, but the likes of 2 Yellow-browed Warblers trapped in the Crown Estate Field, a Hen Harrier through, the lingering Wryneck and singles of Jack Snipe and Dartford Warbler amongst others provided lots of other scarce interest to get amongst. If that wasn't enough, the first decent push of thrushes of the season - including 150 Redwings, 40 Song Thrushes, 25 Blackbirds, 6 Fieldfares and a Ring Ouzel through at the Bill alone - demanded constant attention, whilst 5 Merlins, 4 Black Redstarts, 3 Bramblings, 3 Snipe, 2 Lapwings, 2 Firecrests and singles of Golden Plover, Hobby and Bullfinch featured amongst the occasionals. Common migrant-wise, at the Bill 100 Chiffchaffs, 75 each of Stonechat and Robin, and 30 Goldcrests were worthy totals on the ground, whilst 820 Linnets, 300 Swallows, 300 Goldfinches, 80 Chaffinches and 60 Siskins were amongst the movers overhead. The continuing presence of upwards of 3000 auks off the Bill made the sea seem just as busy as the land and the sky, with 200 Mediterranean Gulls, 7 Balearic Shearwaters, 3 Arctic Skuas and the first Manx Shearwater for a long time adding further interest, even if the passing waterfowl tally of just 13 Common Scoter, 2 Brent Geese and a Teal fell way short of expectations.
Ringing numbers a wee bit depleted today because our third site at Culverwell was out of action but 103 new birds between the Obs and the CEF was still nice. Chiffchaff 31, Robin 18 and Gcrest 13 the top three, thrushes on the up, 2 Yellow-browed Warblers the scarces.
Migration continued apace although subtle changes in the proportions of constituents saw Goldcrests gain prominence at the Bill at least, where 50 represented their highest total of the season to date; Redwings also got into double figures for the first time, including 19 at the Bill, whilst the first 2 Bramblings overhead hinted at further changes to come. In the dreary conditions and fresher northeasterly, Chiffchaffs were still conspicuously numerous everywhere, including 150 through at the Bill, whilst 50 Stonechats at the Billwas their highest total of recent weeks; further odds and ends of interest on the ground included a Dartford Warbler and the long-staying Whimbrel at the Bill, a Firecrest at Thumb Lane and 2 Bar-tailed Godwits, a Grey Plover and a Redshank at Ferrybridge. Numbers overhead included 1700 Linnets, 280 Swallows, 160 Meadow Pipits, 135 Goldfinches, 130 alba wagtails, 92 Chaffinches, 80 Skylarks, 24 Siskins, 10 Redpolls, a Merlin and a Lapwing at the Bill. Even though auks were still abundant at times, the sea was considerably quieter than it had been yesterday, with a lingering Arctic Skua the best on offer off the Bill.
Goldcrests on the up in the Bill mist-nets today - 29 from the day total of 148 birds ringed is more than double their previous best day so far this autumn; 49 CCs and 17 Swallows the day's other high totals, with 6 Stonechats and 5 Redwings also their highest totals for the season to date.
A day of seriously impressive numbers, with another big drop of Chiffchaffs on the ground, a strong push through of visible migrants overhead and the sea carpeted with huge flocks of feeding and passing birds. The Chiffchaff tally again reached around 300 at the Bill alone, where swirling flocks of grounded Linnets totalled into four figures and singles of Wryneck and Firecrest were amongst the decent variety of other new arrivals. Overhead passage was tapped into mainly over the Bill, where 2150 Linnets, 500 Swallows, 380 Meadow Pipits, 235 Goldfinches, 220 alba wagtails, 150 Siskins, 75 Redpolls, 60 Chaffinches and 23 Skylarks were amongst the departers. At times the sea was a swirling mass of birds, with huge numbers of auks - a minimum of 10000 off the Bill - going in all directions, a strong eastward passage of 1500 Kittiwakes and 850 Mediterranean Gulls, and large feeding aggregations of Gannets and gulls that attracted amongt others 12 Arctic Skuas, 7 Balearic Shearwaters and a Great Skua.
So rewarding on the ringing front at the moment: another 233 ringed at the Bill today, with 97 Chiffchaffs and 80 Swallows making up the bulk of the total; 6 Redpolls, 2 Reed Buntings and a Firecrest the best of the less regulars with further interest in the form of a late Sedge Warbler
Cloudy and cool conditions from dawn saw another nice arrival of grounded migrants, with a distinct late autumn feel to the variety of birds present. It was clearly a good day for some of the first thrushes of the autumn to put in appearances, with Ring Ouzel, Mistle Thrush (2) and Redwing all new for the season at the Obs. Another strong showing of Chiffchaffs provided the bulk of the numbers: at least 300 passed through at the Bill and patches of cover further up-island were reported to be dripping with many more; a seemingly new Siberian Lesser Whitethroat and singles of Dartford Warbler and Bullfinch were also of note at the Bill, with a Black Redstart at Portland Harbour also of interest. Overhead, birds were streaming through, with 1400 Linnets, 375 Goldfinches, 300 Swallows, 115 'Alba' Wagtails, 105 Siskin, 36 Redpoll, 23 Chaffinches, 10 House Martins, 4 Reed Buntings and singles of Grey Wagtail and Greenfinch logged from the Obs, whilst elsewhere a Glossy Ibis headed over Portland Harbour, from where what were presumably yesterday's 2 Common Cranes were also reported. Auks continued to abound offshore, with at least 4000 off the Bill where a Balearic Shearwater also lingered and a Red-necked Grebe passed by.
Big arrival of Chiffchaffs today and tapped into plenty of them in the mist-nets - 99 out of the day's ringing total of 179 at the Bill; this total also takes us over the all-time CC year record (now on 1393 for this year, previous record 1301 in 2012)...
...rare that the humble Dunnock gets a mention in our ringing summaries but its all-time record also fell today, with the 160th ringed overtaking the previous record of 159 in 2021. The first Redwing of the autumn and another Dartford Warbler also amongst the day's catch
Overcast skies led to an uptick in moth numbers overnight, with singles of Toadflax Pearl catalaunalis and Golden Twin-spot the best of the migrants at the Obs; unseasonables included singles of Rosy Tabby flammealis and Small Fan-footed Wave
Perfect birding conditions and decent numbers of routine migrants which, together with the added bonus of 2 Common Cranes overhead, made for a pretty enjoyable day. Grounded arrivals noticeably increased and included 100 Chiffchaffs, 50 Blackcaps and 25 Goldcrests at the Bill, where 2 Dartford Warblers, a Snipe, the lingering Whimbrel and a Cetti's Warbler were the best of the oddities. Overhead passage was also strong, with 360 Meadow Pipits, 280 alba wagtails, 210 Linnets, 120 Siskins, 70 Chaffinches and 40 Redpolls making up the bulk of the numbers at the Bill; a lone Crossbill also passed over, whilst after midday the 2 Common Cranes that had arrived over the Bill from the west tried to leave out to sea before returning and eventually heading away north over Portland Harbour. The sea was quiet, with singles of Red-throated Diver and Balearic Shearwater the best off the Bill.
Ringing numbers on the up again at the Bill with 157 new in perfect conditions. Good arrival of 44 Chiffchaffs and 35 more Swallows the highest totals; 13 more Redpolls and the third Cetti's Warbler of the autumn the best of the variety. Ta Rob Stephens for the Cetti's photo from Culverwell.
Another increasingly warm day with hardly a breath of wind saw reduced action on all fronts, with a short spell of drizzle associated with the passing of weak weather front coming far too late to drop us an any avian surprises. With Chiffchaff and Blackcaps noticeably depleted, things felt particularly thin on the ground, with the first Black Redstart of the autumn, a handful of new Song Thrushes, the first double-figure count of Wheatears for the month and a noticeable build-up of Linnets the only worthwhile reports from the Bill. Unsurprisingly, overhead passage made up almost the entirety of the day's numbers, with 200 Goldfinch, 140 Meadow Pipits, 135 Linnet, 110 'Alba' Wagtails, 100 Swallows, 70 Chaffinch, 60 Siskin, 26 Skylark and 2 Red-throated Divers over the Bill. At sea, 2 Arctic Skua and singles of Balearic Shearwater and Pale-bellied Brent Goose were also logged.
Today's weak weather front passed too late to jazz up the ringing numbers at the Bill - just 69 new at the Obs/Crown Estate Field (no nos received yet from Culverwell) with the best the first Greenfinch ringed this year - before the ravages of Trichomonosis we've ringed as many as 566 in a year!...
...also on the ringing front, a single Redpoll took their year total to 25 (all in the last 10 days) which is a new PBO record + the first migrant Song Thrush of the autumn was trapped
Again, far too clear and cool overnight for successful mothing: at the Obs, a single Toadflax Pearl the best of a limited catch of migrants; an unseasonable Swallowtail was an oddity there
Everything ticked along nicely in extremely benign and, by the afternoon, really warm conditions but ultimately the day's migrant selection was rather underwhelming, with less grounded than might have been hoped out of a quite overcast dawn and not as much on the move overhead than we'd seen yesterday. A good spread of Chiffchaffs, Blackcaps and Goldcrests was evident everywhere, but 2 each of Dartford Warbler and Firecrest, a Great Spotted Woodpecker and the lingering Siberian Lesser Whitethroat were a limited return for the amount of shoe leather expended during some wide-ranging coverage of the land. Ferrybridge was slightly more productive from the numbers point of view, including 400 Mediterranean Gulls, 145 Brent Geese, 141 Ringed Plovers, 90 Dunlin, 21 Turnstones, 3 Bar-tailed Godwits and a Grey Plover. Overhead rewards included 2 Crossbills over the Bill, where the numbers included 480 Linnets, 300 Swallows, 240 Goldfinches, 200 Meadow Pipits, 180 alba wagtails, 80 Siskins, 75 Chaffinches and 25 Skylarks. Both Kittiwakes and auks totalled well into four figures off the Bill, but 2 Arctic Skuas were as good as it got for quality there.
Ringing gathered a bit of momentum at the Bill today: 180 new incl 74 Swallows, 22 Chiffchaffs and 18 Blackcaps; nice variety of other seasonable movers incl 7 Pied Wagtails, 5 Long-tailed Tits, 4 Redpolls and a Firecrest...
...also on the ringing front: we've received notification of a fantastic recovery of a Firecrest ringed here last October that was controlled a few days ago by a ringer in the Czech Republic - the first movement of a UK-ringed Firecrest to the Czech Republic or indeed to anywhere in central Europe
Last night's migrant moth catch not really up to expectations - stayed too clear and moonlit for too long? An Old World Webworm, 2 Olive-tree Pearl, 3 Vestal and 5 White-speck the best of the less regulars at the Obs.
Although we were logging some tremendous numbers of grounded arrivals during the fair weather in late September, today's clear skies weren't nearly as rewarding with only Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps at all numerous - and then only in a fraction of numbers of the recent past. In contrast, it was very busy overhead, with 1500 Meadow Pipits, 1080 Linnets, 380 Siskins, 250 alba wagtails, 230 Chaffinches, 21 Skylarks, 19 Redpolls and 16 Greenfinches amongst the departers over the Bill. What little of note there was on the ground included a Merlin and a Great Spotted Woodpecker at the Bill, a Bullfinch at Southwell and a Reed Warbler at Coombefield. Kittiwakes were again really impressively abundant offshore, with 7000 west off the Bill in only two hours after dawn; 7 Arctic Skuas were the best of what little else was moving there.
Resumption of ringing activities today after the weather-enforced hiatus. Relatively quiet with just 66 new birds between the Obs, the Crown Estate Field and Culverwell; 15 CCs and 13 Bcaps the only numbers but 6 more Redpolls and the first Siskin of the year amongst some nice variety
Although it remained a fair degree too windy for a comprehensive check of the Bill, scrutiny of the more sheltered spots further up-island revealed pockets of cover that were teeming with common migrants - whether they were new arrivals or lingerers surfacing in the constantly ameliorating conditions was uncertain but the numbers were certainly impressive. The clearer conditions also saw an increase in birds overhead, with over 200 alba wagtails, 67 Siskin, 25 Swallows, 4 Redpolls and a Merlin over the Bill. The sea was busy with Kittiwakes - over 2000 passed the Bill in the hour after dawn - but otherwise uneventful, with a lone Great Northern Diver the pick of what little else was passing.
With a raging and unabating westerly the order of the day there was little to report. Singles of Long-tailed Skua off the Bill and Sooty Shearwater off Chesil Cove were the only slightly out of the ordinary reports from plenty of seawatching and a Merlin at the Bill the only worthwhile sighting on the land.
An extremely unpleasant day, with wind and rain bringing to an end a couple of weeks of rich reward on the migrant front. The only reports were from the sea, with singles of Manx Shearwater, Little Egret, Great Skua and Arctic Skua through off the Bill.
Talking of moths brings us on to another interesting subject, that of belated news of a first for Britain from the Obs garden moth-traps back in 2022. October of that year was tremendous for moth migration, with our records already including the first British mainland Southern Brindled Green (the only previous records had been from the Channel Islands) and the first British wild-caught Robust Tabby (the few previous records had all been from warehouses/shops); to these we can now add the first record of the pyralid, Evergestis isatidalis, that was trapped in the Obs garden on the night of 22nd/23rd October. At the time we'd identified the moth as the similar Cornifrons ulceratalis and it was seen alive by a good many moth twitchers and photographs were posted on the blog and reposted on various social media sites; since it was a first for Portland as well as being a good national rarity we eventually set the moth and it had languished in a store box until last weekend when Mark Parsons and Phil Sterling paid us a visit to check out some other specimens they had an interest in. With previous experience of ulceratalis, Mark spotted that our specimen didn't look right and photographed it for further investigation - this revealed it was in fact Evergestis isatidalis, a moth hitherto known only from countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea and from the Canary Islands:
At rest these two species are very variable and can look alarmingly similar: for example, check out the Lepiforum pages for each - isatidalis and ulceratalis. However, isatidalis is considerably larger than ulceratalis and, seemingly diagnostically, it always has a curved sub-median row of dark dots in the hindwing that's absent in ulceratalis. Many thanks to Mark and Phil for their help - both they and us have been extremely busy in recent years and we have literally years worth of set specimens of tentatively identified or wholly unidentified moths in store boxes for them to work through - watch this space for some more surprises like this! Photos @ Martin Cade.
The nets @portlandbirdobs.bsky.social remained firmly furled today as Storm Amy hit us with rain and gusts up to 48mph by evening.A good time to reflect on 12 brilliant days of ringing, good numbers and variety. Autumn Chiffchaffs always reflect a change of seasons and Wrynecks confirm the feeling.
Despite a seemingly promising overcast sky, the gradual dwindling in migrant activity evident over recent day continued, with relatively few new grounded arrivals and no more than a modest passage overhead. The Siberian Lesser Whitethroat and Dartford Warbler remained at the Bill but singles of Whimbrel and Redstart provided the best of the interest amongst the light scatter of new Blackcaps, Chiffchaffs and Goldcrests there; elsewhere, 25 Dark-bellied Brent Geese were new in at Ferrybridge. Overhead, 215 Linnets, 42 Siskins, 7 Redpolls and a Golden Plover were the pick of the passage over the Bill, with another Crossbill also through at the Heights. Offshore, 1500 auks and 250 Mediterranean Gulls provided the numbers at the Bill, with 9 mainly lingering Arctic Skuas and a single Balearic Shearwater of further note there.
SSW wind with overcast did 1little for birds with 68 birds of 12 species ringed. CC 19, Gcrest 6, Meadow Pip 26, 2 Reed Bunts new. A Restart a suprise luckily for a visiting group of nature supporters on a visit to PBOn,End to days of migrant movemant comes, thanks always due to Martin & Jodie.
It was not the most auspicious of starts to October, with neither the quantity or quality of migration able to meet the lofty expectations that come with this time in the birding calendar. Cloudier conditions saw overhead passage ease off slightly, with reduced totals of 300 Meadow Pipits, 45 'Alba' Wagtails, 27 Siskin, 22 Chaffinch, 17 Skylark, 14 Redpolls, 5 Ravens and a Hobby departing the Bill, with a noticeable absence of hirundines compared to recent days; elsewhere, 14 more Ravens and a Crossibill amongst others passed over at the Heights. On the ground, a Dartford Warbler trapped and ringed in the Crown Estate Field and the lingering Siberian Lesser Whitethroat were the only real oddities from the Bill, with 3 Bearded Tits logged at Coombefield and the long-staying Wryneck at Barleycrates the only other additions of quality from further up island. On the sea, a total of 300 Mediterranean Gulls and 250 Kittiwakes provided plenty of target practice for the marauding 8 Arctic Skuas, with 1 Balearic Shearwater and 1 Wigeon the only other sightings of note.
Fine October autumn fare of 1sty male Dartford W, 7 Redpoll and 5 Goldcrest were among 124 birds of 16 species ringed @portlandbirdobs.bsky.social today. Meadow Pip 43, CC 41, Bcap 12 highest in slow day with weather clearing and reaching 18 degrees in the afternoon. Red sunrise spectacular.
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