15th October

Today didn't really pan out as expected: the clear, calm dawn sky was full of Redpolls as it should have been but their anticipated companions didn't materialise in any great quantity and the day quickly fizzled out quite underwhelmingly. The final tally of 75 Redpolls was certainly a good one, with 100 Siskins also a respectable total, but precious little else overhead featured in anything more than a few dozens. It was a tad busier on the ground than it has been the case just lately, but much that might be expected in quantity - notably thrushes and 'crests - remained in short supply, with singles of Merlin, Water Rail, Short-eared Owl and Ring Ouzel, together with the long-staying Lesser Whitethroat, the best on offer at the Bill. Not much was expected from the sea and 3 Balearic Shearwaters and a Red-throated Diver were all that could be mustered from the Bill.

Although we hear that the dawn sky along the mainland coast was filled with passing migrants that was not the case at the Bill where only Redpolls featured in decent numbers...

...and this was not a particularly representative individual since it was one of the very few that was actually seen settled this morning © Martin Cade:

14th October

The forecast chill that set in after yesterday's rain had cleared through was nowhere near as brutal as anticipated, in fact by the middle of the day in pretty well unbroken sunshine it felt pleasantly warm. The change in the weather didn't produce anything like the arrival of grounded migrants that might have been hoped but a Little Bunting trapped in the Crown Estate Field was another welcome scarcity and in tandem with the recapture of the Radde's Warbler from a couple of days ago - along with sightings of a Monarch butterfly and a Vagrant Emperor dragonfly at the Bill and a Crimson Speckled moth at Church Ope Cove - certainly added some sparkle to proceedings. The day's numbers were all overhead, where a strong passage of seasonable regulars over the Bill included 1200 Meadow Pipits, 430 Siskins, 385 Linnets, 330 Goldfinches, 285 Pied Wagtails, 72 Redpolls, 64 Chaffinches, 36 Skylarks, 25 Reed Buntings, 15 Greenfinches and singles of Merlin, Woodlark and Tree Pipit amongst others. It was far and away quieter on the ground but the light spread of new arrivals at the Bill did include 3 Golden Plovers, a Short-eared Owl and a late Reed Warbler. The sea returned to normal with a tally of 850 Mediterranean Gulls, 320 Kittiwakes, 288 Great Black-backed Gulls (another 250 were settled ashore), 5 Balearic Shearwaters, a Sooty Shearwater and an Arctic Skua through off the Bill.

Portland's got a pretty good track record with Little Buntings, today's bird being the 24th for the island © Martin Cade:




One of the three Golden Plovers that dropped in late in the day at the Bill © Steve Mansfield:

What with all yesterday's sea events we didn't get round to an 'out-of-pot' photograph of the Crimson Speckled but it sat nicely today © Martin Cade...


...and per a Facebook posting, another was found today at Church Ope Cove:

13th October

Although a good deal is too strange to be believed, nothing is too strange to have happened  Thomas Hardy 

The new normal of climate breakdown was always eventually going to deliver us large shearwaters in previously unimaginable numbers and an overnight blow that arrived in tandem with bucketloads of rain duly delivered that event today. The numbers and species break down are the subject of ongoing discussion, but for the time being it's safe to say that a total of 688 Great Shearwaters counted passing the Bill in 90 minutes during the afternoon adequately reflected the magnitude of an event that involved more than twice that number of large shearwaters in total. Other totals from the day included 500 Kittiwakes, 30 Common Scoter, 15 Balearic Shearwaters, 10 Arctic Skuas, 5 Sooty Shearwaters, 2 Manx Shearwaters and singles of Red-throated Diver and Storm Petrel; another 4 Arctic Skuas passed through at Chesil Cove.

Unfortunately the file sizes of the various videos we'd planned to post have not only compromised their quality but also temporarily caused the Obs computer to grind to a halt(!) so we'll have to make do with a few photos and one poor resolution scene-setting video until we get those issues sorted out © Martin Cade:




12th October

Another day with just a single highlight and precious few common migrants to get amongst, that highlight being the appearance of a Monarch butterfly at the Bill. Bird-wise, migrants for the most part continued to avoid the island: some limited overhead passage at the Bill included 100 Siskins, whilst single Ring Ouzels at the Bill and the Grove, and a lone Yellow-legged Gull at the Bill were by far the best of the sparse spread of new arrivals on the ground. Another 200 Great Black-backed Gulls passed by off the Bill but there was little other noteworthy sea movement beyond an apparent up-tick in Gannet numbers.

A Vagrant Emperor dragonfly was at the Grove.

Always a splendid sight, Monarch butterflies have been pretty sparse for us in recent years: back in the 1990s/early 2000s they were relatively frequent, to the extent that there are more than 35 island records in total of which no fewer than 20 were in 2001 alone; however, Jodie's discovery of today's specimen in the East Cliff Quarries at the Bill is the first time that someone's clapped eyes on one at Portland since one spent a couple of days in the Obs garden in late September 2018 © Martin Cade:



The Yellow-legged Gull at the Bill this morning - no doubt a much overlooked species at this time of year now that there are or ought to be more important things to look out for © Joe Stockwell:


11th October

Quite how we got anything out of today was as much a mystery as a surprise: unaccountably, considering the continuing overcast sky that ought to be dropping a hatful of birds in mid-October, there looked to be almost nothing about by way of common migrants but out of nowhere a Radde's Warbler - the first warbler several fieldworkers had seen all morning - found its way into the Culverwell mist-nets. This aside, singles of Ring Ouzels at the Bill and the Verne, and a Merlin over the Bill were the only minor scarcities deserving a mention from the ground; overhead, passage was very subdued but did include 230 Linnets and 64 Siskins. The brisk-ish southwesterly perked up sea interest that included 130 Mediterranean Gulls, 89 Kittiwakes, 8 Balearic Shearwaters, 4 Arctic Skuas and a Sooty Shearwater through off the Bill.

Portland's done relatively well for Radde's Warbler over the years - if we've counted them up correctly today's bird is the 17th for the island © Martin Cade:







10th October

Any day with a Red-breasted Flycatcher in temporary residence is a good day - in fact today there was so little else about that it more or less saved the day. Encouragingly, dawn had broken to completely overcast skies but that optimism quickly evaporated as it became clear that the trees were empty of new arrivals and almost nothing was dropping out of the cloud; the odd few thrushes - including single Ring Ouzels at Chesil Cove and Coombefield - and other newcomers did eventually materialise but for the most part it remained painfully quiet everywhere. A small passage of Pied Wagtails, Meadow Pipits and various finches developed overhead, where 110 departing Lesser Black-backed Gulls were also of interest, whilst the sea returned totals of 10 Balearic Shearwaters and 6 Arctic Skuas.

Although first found out amongst the beach huts, the Red-breasted Flycatcher quickly relocated to the Obs garden where it resided for the rest of the day but was always super-active and quite a little s*d to see well in the field...



...however, eventually it did turn up in a mist-net © Nick Hopper...


...and some extra detail © Martin Cade:




It called a fair bit, usually the characteristic rattle but quite frequently also the completely different 'squeaky gate' call; our recordings were trashed by the strength of the wind and multitude of rustling leaves but you get the idea © Martin Cade:


9th October

By the afternoon the intensity of today's warmth and sunshine was such that it didn't seem like there'd been any change in conditions but a bit of murk in the sky at dawn had done the trick and dropped a better arrival of typical October migrants, amongst which at least 17 Ring Ouzels were of particular note; the first handful of Redwings and Fieldfares were also logged, along with a small arrival of Song Thrushes. Stonechats again hovered around the 40 mark at the Bill where an uptick in grounded Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs was also evident but the day's numbers were once again overhead, with Bill totals from the morning that included 1000 Meadow Pipits, 550 Linnets, 380 Pied Wagtails, 175 Siskins, 125 Goldfinches, 94 Wood Pigeons and 20 Greenfinches; elsewhere, 8 Crossbills passed over at Easton, a Tree Sparrow was suspected to be lingering in the Coombefield area, a Firecrest was at Thumb Lane and the Grey Phalarope was still about although had moved back off Chesil. Despite the millpond calm sea there was a fair bit of movement offshore that included 440 Mediterranean Gulls, 116 Kittiwakes, 46 Common Scoter and 3 Balearic Shearwaters through off the Bill.

One of the day's Ring Ouzels at Suckthumb © Roger Hewitt


Whilst the bird vismig has been ticking along nicely in recent days, almost under the radar there have been even greater numbers of Red Admirals on the move. Their inexorable southbound passage has been taking place on such a broad front across the island that it's been impossible to enumerate save to say it must number in the many thousands - we've done a whole series of spot counts both in the Grove/Broadcroft area yesterday and at the Bill today that have varied from fewer than one a minute to more than six a minute; today we even took to scanning skyward (...it was very pleasant - verging on the soporific in fact - doing that up on top of West Cliffs) and regularly spotted single butterflies motoring past so high up that they couldn't be resolved with the naked eye © Martin Cade:






8th October

If it weren't for the crisp autumn leaves underfoot or the sound of finches and pipits overhead, it would have been possible to think we had been transported back to the height of summer in today's glorious sunshine and warmth. Once again overhead passage dominated with totals from the various watchpoints around the Bill including 375 Swallows, 370 Meadow Pipits, 310 Pied Wagtails, 310 Skylarks, 285 Siskins, 140 Linnets, 70 Chaffinches, 42 Goldfinches, 58 Reed Buntings, 20 Redpoll, 4 Grey Wagtails, 2 Woodlarks and singles of Golden Plover, Osprey and Tree Pipit; elsewhere, a Tree Sparrow passed over at Coombefield. At sea, 32 Balearic Shearwaters, 20 Kittiwakes and a single Arctic Skua were logged. Another poor showing of grounded migrants included singles of Goldcrest and Lesser Whitethroat whilst the Grey Phalarope was still favouring the shallow pools at Ferrybridge.  

A good deal of the overhead passage seemed to be taking place at stratospheric height in the cloudless sky - many of the Siskin flocks in particular could be heard but not latched on by sight and could only be recorded as 1+! - however, with a bit of perseverance odd vantage points like West Cliffs afforded some nice photo opportunities © Joe Stockwell:





One migrant that actually dropped in in fair numbers was Reed Bunting © Nick Hopper:


Rarity-wise, the pick of the overnight moth catch was Portland's fifth Dark Mottled Willow from the Obs traps, although the third Death's-head Hawkmoth of the week (see below) - this one at Freshwater Bay - was a good deal more spectacular; the second Maize Moth in two days - this one was a daytime find, also at Freshwater Bay - was another nice scarcity. The moth catch might have been good (totals from the Obs traps included, amongst others, 44 Delicates and 11 Olive-tree Pearls) but as a spectacle the day-long southbound movement of Red Admirals took some beating - they've been on the move in a similar fashion for several days but today's passage was taking place on a broad front and based on a few random sample counts must have involved many thousands of butterflies. Further insect interest came in the form of a Vagrant Emperor dragonfly at Ferrybridge © Martin Cade:

7th October

In ridiculous warmth and sunshine a fall of migrants was never going to be on the cards today but through constant attention to the sky (...it needed it because a lot of the movement was pretty high up) a decent enough tally of overhead movers was accrued. The totals from the Bill included 320 Linnets, 280 Pied Wagtails, 230 Meadow Pipits, 100 Goldfinches, 86 Siskins, 54 Skylarks, 30 Chaffinches and 10 Reed Buntings, with the first Woodlark of the autumn amongst the tag-alongs. On the ground, the Grey Phalarope remained at Ferrybridge and a subliminal Coal Tit passed through at the Bill, but with the exception of nearly 50 Stonechats at the Bill there was almost nothing else worth a mention. The sea was worth a watch, with 80 Kittiwakes, 22 Balearic Shearwaters and 2 Arctic Skuas through off the Bill.

As they have done rather a lot just lately, the moths stole the show with second island records of Oleander Hawkmoth (at Southwell © Mark Sterling) and Sword-grass (at the Obs © Martin Cade) the best of the night's migrants; back-up scarcities included 2 Porter's Rustics, a Golden Twin-spot and a Maize Moth Spoladea recurvalis


6th October

Precious little change today with the increasingly balmy conditions doing nothing to jazz up migrant numbers. A Grey Phalarope was a surprise find off Chesil and, given the benign sea state, it even more surprisingly later relocated to Ferrybridge where it showed extremely well. The sad state of affairs migrant-wise continued, with even visible passage reduced under the clear, sunny sky. Linnets have now reached almost par with Meadow Pipits but neither topped 400 over the Bill, where all the other usual suspects were represented but none in great quantity; in terms of this post-Trichomonosis era a total of 7 migrating Greenfinches were, sadly, well worth a mention (only one Greenfinch was logged at the Obs during the whole of September). The less said about the grounded migrant situation the better, with the only event worth passing comment being a small arrival of new Blue and Great Tits at the Bill. Singles of Balearic Shearwater and Arctic Skua passed by off the Bill.

The Grey Phalarope put on a very good show © Martin Cade:





5th October

Same old, same old. Just at the moment we seem to be stuck in a groove of there clearly being passage afoot - the early doors vismig returns have been pretty decent - but precious little seems to be grounding in any quantity. Dawn saw plenty of cloud in the sky and even one or two showers not too far away but it was remarkably quiet on the ground, with no more than single figure totals of Wheatear, Blackcap,  Chiffchaff and Goldcrest at the Bill, where there weren't any particularly oddities discovered. In contrast there was plenty passing overhead, with totals of 560 Meadow Pipits, 320 Linnets, 190 Great Black-backed Gulls, 167 Pied Wagtails, 65 Goldfinches, 62 Siskins and 50 Skylarks amongst others accrued in quick time at the Bill. The sea remained quiet, with 5 Balearic Shearwaters and a Dark-bellied Brent Goose as good as it got off the Bill.


The Death's-head Hawkmoths have been very popular attractions this week - here's a little compilation of some phone video clips from the initially discovery of the first one up to the release of the second one © Martin Cade:


4th October

Another nice pulse of overhead passage today but the strength of the brisk westerly continued to be a bother when it came to working for grounded migrants. Linnets are in the ascendancy now and at 300 in the first hour of the day over the Bill were up to half of the Meadow Pipit total; everything else that might have been expected put in fairly respectable showings, with 4 Tree Sparrows over the Bill - the first here for two years - and a Honey Buzzard over Southwell nice bonuses. On the ground it wasn't easy to get amongst any quantity of migrants but the lingering Cattle Egret at the Grove and a Lesser Whitethroat (most likely of eastern affinity although that wasn't established for sure) at the Bill were of interest. Sea interest has dwindled right away in recent days, with 4 Balearic Shearwaters off the Bill and an Arctic Skua over Ferrybridge today's only worthwhile sightings.

A couple of days ago we mentioned our crass ineptitude in losing whilst we were trying to photograph it a specimen of Olive Ermine Zelleria oleastrella - a new moth for Portland - that John Lucas had kindly brought us. Although everyone present had seen the moth and there was no doubt about the ID, in this and age there's something deeply unsatisfactory about not having an image - it's almost as though the record doesn't count! Anyway, what we hadn't appreciated at the time was that John had already taken a single 'in-pot' record shot with his phone which we're extremely pleased to be able to feature here - not only is our bacon saved but it's a perfectly satisfactory photo that shows all the necessary features © John Lucas:


Also of interest, we've heard back from Martin Collinson that the dislodged feather from our Marsh Warbler on 31st August has been analysed by his team at the University of Aberdeen and the cytochrome b extracted has fully confirmed the ID; in the circumstances - it was trapped in the half-light of dawn - this bird could quite easily have been overlooked so a good spot by Mark Cutts and another nice reward for his perseverance at Culverwell © Martin Cade:

3rd October

With a cool, brisk northwesterly and clear skies replacing the quiet and heavily overcast conditions of the last couple of days a veritable torrent of visible passage got going over a broad front as soon as dawn broke today. Many hundreds of Meadow Pipits were logged over each watchpoint at the Bill, with c2000 looking like a fair estimate for the number of departures there; approaching the same sort of number were grounded around the fields later in the morning. Pied Wagtails and Siskins were the other conspicuous movers, with 430 and 360 respectively through over the Bill; nothing else approached these sort of totals but 155 Linnets and 23 Skylarks were worth a mention. Sadly, Meadow Pipits aside, this volume of passage wasn't on offer on the ground where the bushes were relatively quiet and the scatter of 40 Wheatears represented the highest 'on the deck' tally at the Bill; odds and ends worth a mention included a Cattle Egret at Wakeham and 2 Grasshopper Warblers and Firecrest at the Bill.

2nd October

The faintest waft of a southeasterly breeze gave hope today even if the initial signs under a heavily overcast sky weren't too encouraging. However, it didn't take long before the season's first Yellow-browed Warbler showed up beside the Obs and later a second individual was unearthed at Wakeham; at the other end of the day, just as dusk fell a Wryneck showed up at Southwell Business Park. These were to prove the highlights although variety amongst the accompanying spread of Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs wasn't too bad at the Bill, where there were singles of Merlin, Golden Plover and Snipe, and a Lesser Whitethroat and a Firecrest lingered on; elsewhere, the first 29 Dark-bellied Brent Geese of the season dropped in at Ferrybridge. Late-ish migrants still about around the island included several Sedge Warblers, Whitethroats and Spotted Flycatchers, a Grasshopper Warbler and a Garden Warbler. Two Balearic Shearwaters were easily the pick from some very uneventful seawatching at the Bill.

After a relatively lean year in 2022 it'd be nice if today's Yellow-browed Warblers were the vanguard of a better passage this year © Nick Hopper:


It was a blisteringly good night for migrant moths, with the highlights this Death's-head Hawkmoth from the Grove (photo © Nick Hopper) and a first for the island in the form of an Olive Ermine Zelleria oleastrella from John Lucas' garden at Southwell (...we'd like to post a photograph of the latter but due to our disastrous ineptness it's currently loose in the Obs having escaped while we were trying to obtain  that photograph!). The migrant totals from the Obs garden included 131 Rusty-dot Pearl, 16 Vestal, 8 Delicate, 6 Olive-tree Pearl, 2 Old World Webworm, 2 Scarce Bordered Straw and singles of Convolvulus Hawkmoth, Porter's Rustic and Small Mottled Willow; further singles of Old World Webworm were at Southwell and the Grove.

1st October

October begun just as September had ended - quietly! The heavily overcast sky and slack breeze all but stopped overhead passage in its tracks and although it was a little more fruitful on the ground that only really applied to the likes of Stonechats, Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs that were well-spread if nowhere especially numerous; a lingering Firecrest at the Obs provided the only minor highlight on the ground. Some sea passage included 128 Kittiwakes, 29 Balearic Shearwaters, 15 Black-headed Gulls and 7 Arctic Skuas through off the Bill.

This Spanish Dot Antigastra calalaunalis was the highlight from last night's moth-traps at the Obs. This is another moth that's been massively devalued since our first capture of one at the Obs on 10th October 1995 (...it was in the same trap as the third and fourth British Dark Mottled Willows!): at that time there had been fewer than ten British records of this weird, leggy pyralid, but by only a little over a decade later we trapped as many as 11 in 2006 alone; it's never again been as numerous as in 2006 but it is now a moth that's almost expected during periods of good migration © Martin Cade:



And back to yesterday for a few photographs of this Lesser Whitethroat that was trapped at the Obs at the end of the afternoon. LWTs really are very tricky and we won't bore you with any spiel about this individual that looked so strikingly different to the dead bird handled a couple of days ago - make your own mind up and we'll all await Martin Collinson's University of Aberdeen team hopefully coming up with an answer for us! © Martin Cade:




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