2nd November

Today's leaden, mizzle-filled and increasingly windswept sky delivered a constant procession of flocks of Redwings arriving in off the sea and heading away north that kept the day's few fieldworkers on their toes until well into the afternoon. At the Bill, 360 were logged but the sight from there of a single huge flock of 500 over Southwell suggested that far higher numbers might have been on offer up the island had anyone been looking; many of the flocks contained a few Fieldfares - including 60 at the Bill - whilst Song Thrushes and Blackbirds were represented albeit seemingly in considerably lower numbers. Other arrivals at the Bill included 60 Chaffinches, 20 Siskins, 6 Reed Buntings, a trickle of Blackcaps, Chiffchaffs and Goldcrests, 3 Lapwings, 2 Swallows and singles of Grey Heron, Brambling and Bullfinch, whilst elsewhere 2 Avocets dropped in at Ferrybridge; the Hawfinch was again about first thing in the morning and at least singles of Black Redstart and Firecrest lingered. The sea was also busy, mainly with auks that totalled 4370 through off the Bill during the morning and many hundreds more later; 26 Brent Geese, 5 Balearic Shearwaters, 5 Shelducks, 3 Mallard, 2 Wigeon and singles of Red-throated Diver, Great Northern Diver, Teal, Pochard, Grey Plover and Curlew also passed by offshore.

Harking back to what we wrote about yesterday, today we trapped another obviously 'non-local' Chiffchaff that we had absolutely no joy with in capturing the subtleties of it's colour on a photograph. It was clearly something northern or eastern but had to our eyes far too much of a green component in its plumage (that's almost completely lost in this photograph!) for it to be a conventional Siberian Chiffchaff; its legs and bill were both also considerably paler than yesterday's bird. More on this one if the feather sample gives us some answers © Martin Cade:

Redwings were today's feature birds both overhead and turning up in the mist-nets © Martin Cade:

And back to yesterday for a couple of things we forgot for the blog post. It hasn't been a very good autumn for dispersing Dartford Warbler so the second one of the season from the Crown Estate Field nets was nice to have a close look at © Martin Cade:

There was also a nice close pass over the sound recorder on the Obs patio by a Woodlark which was pleasing because this is a species that, despite it being tolerably regular overhead during autumn passage, we nearly always seem to fail to record for one reason or another

A Sowerby's Beaked Whale on the shore of Portland Harbour at Wyke this morning. First record for Dorset?

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— Bob Ford (@bobthebirder.bsky.social) November 2, 2024 at 5:26 PM

Reduction in migrant moth numbers overnight at the Obs but still pretty decent considering how much cooler and breezier in was; a Golden Twin-spot the best

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— Portland Bird Observatory (@portlandbirdobs.bsky.social) November 2, 2024 at 1:04 PM

1st November

The fact that precious little changed with the weather worked in our favour again, with only the third Wryneck of the autumn showing up at the Bill where a Siberian Chiffchaff and a Dartford Warbler were also new, the Hawfinch lingered for a second day and Wood Pigeons again piled through overhead. A nice little trickle of Redwings, Song Thrushes and Blackbirds accounted for the bulk of the grounded numbers; Blackcaps, Chiffchaffs and Goldcrests also arrived in lower numbers, the mist-nets again drew attention to Robins in particular still arriving in quantity and less regulars included 2 Bullfinches and a Firecrest at the Bill, a Short-eared Owl at Reap Lane and c10 Black Redstarst scattered about. The clouds of Wood Pigeons through over the Bill eventually totalled 65000 - their second highest tally of the autumn to date - with 460 Starlings, 340 Jackdaws, 220 Linnets, 180 Chaffinches, 80 Goldfinches, 9 Bramblings, 2 Lapwings and a Woodlark also overhead. Small gulls featured strongly offshore, with up to 250 Mediterranean, 50 Black-headed and 40 Common a constant presence off the Bill where 3 Balearic Shearwaters also passed by.

November Wrynecks aren't actually that unusual at the Bill although most of the previous records involve individuals that were lingering after an earlier arrival rather than apparent newcomers like today's bird © Mark Eggleton:

The Siberian Chiffchaff provided a nice object lesson in just how difficult it is to capture the true colours of this (sub)species in a photograph: we tried in complete shade and complete sunshine (with the camera white balance adjusted accordingly) but to our eyes there was something not quite right with either attempt; nice bird though and so arrestingly different after you've been handling hundreds of Common Chiffchaffs over a couple of months © Martin Cade:

The dawn sky was again full of Wood Pigeons, with a total of 65000 departing out to sea high over the Bill; our autumn total now stands a more than 300000 - the previous record of 164000 was set just last year © Martin Cade:

Last night's Obs migrant moths: big influx of Rusty-dot Pearl - 244 = highest total this year - along with high totals of a range of other migrants; singles of Gem and Vestal the best.

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— Portland Bird Observatory (@portlandbirdobs.bsky.social) November 1, 2024 at 1:33 PM

31st October

We tend to be a bit gripey about samey weather conditions but the current run of gentle northeasterlies and heavily overcast skies are welcome to stick around - not only do they make for pleasurable birding but there are plenty of migrants to get amongst as well. Today's chief rewards were Hawfinches over Blacknor and at the Obs, and new Yellow-browed Warblers at the Mermaid and Pennsylvania Castle; they arrived in tandem with, amongst others, another small flurry of new Blackcaps, Chiffchaffs and crests, a late Reed Warbler and a steady if unspectacular trickle of thrushes. Singles of Short-eared Owl, Yellowhammer and Corn Bunting at the Bill were very much appropriate for the season, as were the scatter of Black Redstarts everywhere; also elsewhere, several Firecrests and singles of Great Spotted Woodpecker and Cetti's Warbler were at Wakeham/Pennsylvania Castle, the Red-necked Grebe continued in Portland Harbour, a Lapwing was grounded beside the Beach Road and singles of Grey Plover and Knot were at Ferrybridge. Overhead, a huge early flock of c10000 Wood Pigeons over the middle of the island looked like being the vanguard of another big movement but ultimately things fizzled out, with the Bill total for the morning falling just short of 12000; Chaffinches trickled over all morning but most other seasonable movers were in short-ish supply.

Bearing in mind the numbers being logged elsewhere we'd been feeling a little hard done by on the Hawfinch front; however, there's nothing like then getting to scrutinize the finer detail on an adult male to help cast that fretting aside - such cool birds with so much going on in their plumage! © Martin Cade: 

Talking of soothing potential stress, it's also great when someone who reports a Reed Warbler on 31st October immediately produces a perfectly ID-able photo of it instead of coming to us with some sort of crappy, doors of perception verbal description of what they thought they were seeing or wanted to see through binoculars © Dan Law:

Dan's Reed Warbler was in Helen's Fields that, as can be gauged from the vegetation it's in, are in a fantastic state at the moment. We lead a very sheltered life these days being more or less rooted to looking after the Obs and manning the Crown Estate Field nets for a large chunk of the day. However, since there was so little coverage of the wider Bill area, this week we've had a few afternoon wanders that have taken in Helen's Fields that we hadn't visited for literally months and we were taken aback at how good the mid-tier stewardship scheme crops there look - full of all sorts of waist-deep, bird-friendly cover and full of birds; these fields are much more sheltered that the windswept Crown Estate Field that we're used to and the crops there are correspondingly far more luxuriant. Here are a few random photos of the progression of this year's crops from sowing in spring through to how they look this week - you might be grumpy at the Government for having taken away your winter fuel allowance but at least give them some credit for coughing up for crops that could so have a Black-faced Bunting in any day now © Jodie Henderson & Martin Cade:

30th October

The quiet, gloomy conditions continued and late migration ticked along steadily if largely unspectacularly. Another heavy overnight passage of Redwings presaged some further movement throughout the daylight hours when 100 more dribbled through at the Bill and 40 grounded at Verne Common; other thrushes included 16 Fieldfares through at Verne Common and a sprinkle of new Blackbirds and Song Thrushes. A small flurry of warblers and crests included 3 Goldrests, 2 Chiffchaffs, a Blackcap, a Yellow-browed Warbler and a Firecrest new at the Bill and another Yellow-browed Warbler at Southwell; other newcomers at the Bill included a single Wheatear. Lingerers on the ground included a spread of Black Redstarts everywhere. A single flock of 80 Siskins through over the Bill was a strange event in a poor autumn for them and, along with the first Snow Bunting of the year there, was the overhead highlight; other passage was quite subdued under the overcast sky, with 2050 Wood Pigeons, 9 Bramblings, 3 Swallows, 2 Redpolls and a Golden Plover the best at the Bill. The Red-necked Grebe remained in Portland Harbour, whilst the sea the came up with 150 Mediterranean Gulls lingering off the Bill and 8 Brent Geese, 3 Balearic Shearwaters and 2 Tufted Ducks through there. Finally, singles of Sanderling and Knot were at Ferrybridge.

On the ringing front, today's Yellow-browed was the 11th trapped this month which beats our previous record year total of 10 in 2016...

...another record that's been broken - largely due to serendipitous, untargeted catching in the Crown Estate Field this month - is that for Stonechat: the total of 72 ringed so far this year already comfortably exceeds the previous record of 64 in 2017 © Martin Cade:

The fly-over - unseen - Snow Bunting at the Bill this morning was a nice example of the reach of the recording kit that we often leave running at the Obs just for eventualities like this. Our hearing isn't too bad but to our ears this bird sounded high up and really quite distant - in fact it wasn't even picked up by someone else with even sharper hearing who was on the patio at the time - but the recording makes it sound as though it was quite low overhead! These days, we don't hear Lapland or Snow Buntings nearly often enough to be certain of their differentiation so thanks to Joe for sorting it out for us:

If there'd been even a shaft of brightness through today's leaden sky then this photo might have had a tad more colour about it. As it is, we're guessing that there can't have been many occasions in Britain when it's been possible to pose two wild-caught Silver-striped Hawks next to one another - last night's specimen is the slightly smaller, more worn one on the left; the bigger, brighter one on the right is from the night before © Martin Cade:

29th October

We've been fortunate to have been blessed with a fair bit of benign weather throughout September and October - for example, there have only been four days in the two months when we haven't had at least some of the mist-nets open - and that pattern looks to be sticking as we see out October. Today's calm and largely overcast conditions were a pleasure to be out birding in and although heavy overnight passage was not maintained - the Obs nocmig recorder had picked up Redwings moving at a peak of just shy of 500 in the hour either side of midnight - there were plenty of arrivals to get amongst once dawn broke. Warblers and crests are clearly fizzling out but the likes of an autumn peak to date of 30 Reed Buntings at the Bill was representative of the sort of things on the move now; Black Redstarts were well-represented with at least 10 scattered about the island, with 2 late Garden Warblers and singles of Short-eared Owl, Firecrest, Bullfinch and Cirl Bunting all providing interest amongst the more routine fare on offer at the Bill. Elsewhere, a Turtle Dove visited a private garden at Southwell, whilst the Red-necked Grebe remained in Portland Harbour where singles of Black-throated Diver and Black-necked Grebe were also logged. Overhead passage was fitful, with the bulk of Wood Pigeons perhaps grounded by murkier conditions on the mainland; 1200 did still pass over the Bill, along with 150 Goldfinches, 100 Chaffinches, 70 Meadow Pipits, 70 Linnets, 22 Skylarks, 14 Siskins, 6 Golden Plovers, 4 Swallows, 3 Bramblings, a late Yellow Wagtail and a Redpoll amongst others. Nine Balearic Shearwaters passed by off the Bill along with 380 Mediterranean Gulls, 40 Common Gulls, 3 Arctic Skuas and a Great Skua.

This Turtle Dove that turned up underneath a bird feeder in a Southwell garden provided welcome confirmation that yesterday's brief fly-around at the Bill hadn't been something a lot rarer! We've seen suggestions that the Turtle Dove's fortunes may be gradually improving but that's not borne out by our observations: our annual total is the lowest ever recorded at Portland, with just two logged during the spring and today's bird a very belated first of the autumn © Keith Pritchard:

There are nicely varied selections of migrants turning up in the mist-nets at the moment, today these included Black Redstart, Garden Warbler and Brambling - a slightly unlikely trio that we'd guess have never all been trapped at Portland on the same day before this © Martin Cade:

Considering half the night was pretty well blown out there was a good catch of migrant moths at the Obs. A Silver-striped Hawk the highlight but decent increases in numbers across the board.

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— Portland Bird Observatory (@portlandbirdobs.bsky.social) October 29, 2024 at 9:26 AM

Exciting little late night check of the Obs moth-traps: there's another Silver-striped Hawk in one of them!

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— Portland Bird Observatory (@portlandbirdobs.bsky.social) October 29, 2024 at 11:45 PM

28th October

In increasingly miserable breezy and mizzly conditions today was the quietest day for a while. Odds and ends of interest uncovered - mostly likely lingerers - included the Red-necked Grebe in Portland Harbour, a Yellow-browed Warbler at Avalanche Road and 2 Redwings and singles of Grey Heron, Merlin, Firecrest and Cirl Bunting at the Bill; unfortunately, a turtle dove that made the briefest of fly-pasts at the Obs wasn't seen well enough to establish that is really was just a late Turtle Dove.

27th October

Another gorgeous day but, after a very clear night, there was seemingly a clear-out of grounded migrants with relatively few newcomers arriving in their place. The clear skies were again conducive for overhead migrants to get going, with 25000 Wood Pigeons, 2300 Jackdaws, 170 Starlings, 140 Chaffinches, 135 Linnets, 70 Meadow Pipits, 60 Skylarks, 20 Siskins, 11 Greenfinches, 11 Reed Buntings, 9 Bramblings, 4 Redpolls and a Serin amongst the movers at the Bill. On the ground, the combination of new and old included 3 Black Redstarts, 3 Firecrests and singles of Merlin, Mistle Thrush and Cirl Bunting at the Bill, singles of Woodcock, Dartford Warbler and Hawfinch in the Coombefield/Suckthumb area, the first Siberian Chiffchaff of the autumn and a Firecrest at the Grove, a Yellow-browed Warbler at Portland Castle and the Red-necked Grebe in Portland Harbour; there were still some quite good pockets of Chiffchaffs and other commoner migrants here and there but generally it was quieter on the ground than it has been for a while. Offshore, a small arrival of Balearic Shearwaters saw up to 10 linger off the Bill, where a Great Northern Diver passed by and 250 Mediterranean Gulls lingered.

Since the Red-necked Grebe had been mooted by the news services as a possible/probable Holboell's Grebe we popped down and had a look at it today. The togger's photographs do indeed present a case for it being long and slender-billed although, to be truthful, for some reason we weren't quite as taken by it in life - perhaps it was too far away to appreciate what the still images looked to be suggesting? © Martin Cade:

Unless by some mightily unlikely chance it gets to be examined in the hand this'll be a trickly bird to prove beyond all doubt; it certainly isn't hard in a quick search of eBird images to find photographs from Europe of bills that look surprisingly long and slender rather than the expected shout and stout - here are three random ones we've just lifted, with the bottom one in particular looking really striking (it's from ebird checklist S51252590 from a place in coastal northern Spain so it's probably a vagrant Holboell's Grebe as well!)

26th October

Today was a win, win day: at this time of year it was a pleasure just to be out birding in such blazingly sunny, calm and positively hot weather regardless of the outcome, but for there to be a good spread of quality migrants of offer as well was a massive bonus. The excitement started early with a new Pallas's Warbler trapped at the Obs, but this was quickly followed by a Cirl Bunting trapped in the Crown Estate Field - with one or two more discovered later elsewhere at the Bill - and at least 4 Yellow-browed Warblers scattered about between the Obs and Old Hill. Visible passage was again a very conspicuous feature, with 33500 Wood Pigeons, 1750 Jackdaws, 540 Starlings, 160 Chaffinches, 140 Goldfinches, 40 Skylarks, 20 Greenfinches, 14 Siskins, 12 Reed Buntings, 9 Bramblings, 3 Sparrowhawks, 2 Redpolls and a Snipe amongst others through over the Bill. Good - and surprisingly late - arrivals on the ground at the Bill included 50 each of Stonechat and Robin, and 16 Goldcrests; 5 Black Redstarts, 5 Firecrests, a Merlin, a late Reed Warbler and a Bullfinch were of further note there, with several more of each elsewhere and the Red-necked Grebe attracting attention in Portland Harbour.

This year's Pallas's Warblers have thus far proved really tricky to get to grips with in the field so the in-hand views have been much appreciated © Martin Cade (the bird) and Jodie Henderson (the crowd):

The in-hand male Cirl Bunting was also much appreciated © Martin Cade...

...however, the one or two females proved less obliging - this one dropped in briefly near the Higher Lighthouse, with the same or another seen later in Helen's Fields © Jodie Henderson:

Overhead, Wood Pigeons might have been numerically dominant but for their histrionics and racket it was the Jackdaws that stole the show © Martin Cade:

This morning's Bullfinch trapped at the Obs - always a good bird at the Bill and, seemingly, an increasingly high value bird anywhere on Portland now that proof of breeding has become a less than annual event in the Verne Common/East Weare area © Martin Cade:

A few more pics of the Portland grebe in different light / poses. All heavily cropped from originals.

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— Phil Bentley (@bikingbirder.bsky.social) October 26, 2024 at 8:35 PM

25th October

Overnight rain that dragged on after dawn offered promise that was eventually fulfilled in fine fashion with a Red-throated Pipit that gave a couple of fly-over views on Bill Hill late in the afternoon; earlier, scarcity interest had come in the form of a flurry of 3 new Yellow-browed Warblers at Southwell together with a lingerer at the Obs, a reappearance of the Pallas's Warbler at the Obs and a new Red-necked Grebe in Portland Harbour. The post-dawn rain completely killed overhead passage and it was left to grounded arrivals to provide common migrant entertainment; numbers dropped from yesterday's high but at the Bill Robins again arrived steadily, a sprinkle of new thrushes and crests included 3 Firecrests, whilst 2 Black Redstarts, 2 Snipe and singles of Merlin and Golden Plover were all of note. A lone Balearic Shearwater through off the Bill was the only worthwhile report from the sea. 

Perhaps the ultimate fieldworkers bird at Portland: there's never a widely-seen Red-throated Pipit here and as far as we know these are the first photographs ever taken of one on the island (and in Dorset?)...

...and this is the first sound recording of one here © Joe Stockwell:

Pallas's Warbler and Yellow-browed Warbler in the Obs garden today...

...and yesterday's Serin bombing over the beach hut fields at the Bill © Joe Stockwell:

Obvious arrivals of Scarce Bordered Straw (52 = this year's peak and thinking it'll be our highest ever single night total), Silver Y and DSGrass in the Obs moth-traps last night but not much better than that

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— Portland Bird Observatory (@portlandbirdobs.bsky.social) October 25, 2024 at 10:05 AM

24th October

One of the most exciting days of autumn - as much for the potential offered by the arrival of so many routine migrants and thoughts of what they might have been carrying with them. New Yellow-browed Warblers showed up at the Bill, Wakeham and Easton but it was the ongoing - literally throughout the day - arrival of the likes of Robins, crests, Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps that kept the few field sloggers going right until last light. There was plenty of other migration action unfolding, particularly overhead where pigeons, Jackdaws and finches streamed through in quantity; the lingering Pallas's Warbler at the Obs was a crowd-puller if hardly a crowd-pleaser and a Serin teased with a few fly-rounds at the Bill. Robins staged the most conspicuous arrival on the ground, with 100 a minimum guesstimate from the Bill where they seemed to be everywhere; Goldcrests, Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs were in good quantity everywhere and other newcomers at the Bill included 16 Redwings, 7 Black Redstarts, 2 Firecrests and a Fieldfare. Overhead passage was again dominated by Wood Pigeons, with 43000 over the Bill and a possibly even larger single flock over Ferrybridge that either dissipated or headed away before it could be properly enumerated; 2180 Jackdaws, 650 Goldfinches, 480 Linnets, and 330 Starlings provided further high totals at the Bill, where 35 Siskins, 6 Bramblings, 4 Redpolls and a Lapwing were of note amongst the lower totals. A party of 13 Little Egrets through off the Bill were an oddity but a single Balearic Shearwater was the only proper seabird of interest there.

A dawn like this was always going to offer plenty of vis mig potential...

...pigeons soon filled the sky but today it was swirling flocks of Jackdaws that were as much a spectacle...

...and underneath all the high-flyers there was a constant procession of Linnets and other finches on the move © Martin Cade:

A big party of Little Egrets would have been a fine sight amongst all the overhead shenanigans but they chose to sneak past just off the rocks at the Bill tip © Keith Pritchard:

So many cool birds about at the moment: this Sparrowhawk was the third trapped in as many days...

...32 new Robins trapped between the Obs garden and the Crown Estate Field was an exceptional day total for the Bill...

...today's new Yellow-browed Warbler was the tenth ringed so far this month which equals our highest-ever annual total...

...not that there was any reason to have to scratch around for quality today but you can always rely on the old faithful Firecrest to out-dazzle everything else © Martin Cade:

23rd October

After more than 70 years of fieldwork at Portland any record-breaking event is going to be something fairly special, and so it proved with today's whopping passage of 110000 southbound Wood Pigeons that was such a spectacle that even members of public were asking us what on earth was going on. There looked to be a lot of promise in the day's relative calmness and early cloud cover but by way of grounded arrivals the quality left it until late, with singles of Radde's Warbler and Pallas's Warbler found almost simultaneously at Reap Lane and the Obs respectively late in the afternoon; earlier, another Hawfinch made a typically blink and you miss it visit to Avalanche Road, 2 Yellow-browed Warblers and a Dartford Warbler were at Thumb Lane and a Merlin and a Firecrest at the Bill. With the ground disappointingly quiet for more routine arrivals there was plenty of attention given to events overhead where, in addition to the pigeons, 570 Goldfinches, 520 Linnets, 420 Jackdaws, 400 Chaffinches, 350 Meadow Pipits, 110 Starlings, 90 Pied Wagtails, 60 Skylarks, 29 Siskins, 20 Swallows, 12 Cormorants, 11 Redwings, 10 Reed Buntings, 8 Bramblings, 7 Greenfinches, a Golden Plover and a Redpoll were amongst the movers over the Bill. On a shearwater-free seawatch, 250 Mediterranean Gulls, 5 Brent Geese and 2 Arctic Skuas were as good as it got off the Bill.

With a bit of wishful thinking you could almost imagine it's on a par with Little Bustard migration in Azerbaijan - certainly the numbers aren't much different. Autumn Wood Pigeon passage today reached what for us was an almost unimaginable peak of a six figure total; our previous record was only established a year ago when 41000 passed over on 5th November, so today's 110000 was seriously impressive both as a statistic and a spectacle © Martin Cade:

Well, you can see it's a Pallas's Warbler even if you can't see very much of it © Martin Cade...

...Due to a comedy of errors we missed the best value on the Pallas's Warbler: we were away attending to business in Weymouth at the end of the afternoon when our visiting ringers found it in a mist-net at the Obs just as the nets were being packed up for the day. News didn't circulate for a while and also not before we'd been sidetracked by a wild goose chase for the Radde's Warbler at Reap Lane; once we were back at the Obs it proved - as can been seen from the photograph above - to be extremely elusive. In-hand photo © Glen Maddison:

This morning's Merlin at the Bill © Joe Stockwell:

Migrant moth nos at the Obs picked up a little overnight and incl the first Cosmopolitan of the year; yet another Marbled Fern nitidalis (6th of the month) also of note

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— Portland Bird Observatory (@portlandbirdobs.bsky.social) October 23, 2024 at 12:47 PM