A quieter day than yesterday with lower numbers and
diversity of birds on either land or sea, except for one species, however,
still a reasonable movement of migrants on both.
As the garden was fairly quiet, I went down to the bill for
a sea watch with some of the local birders and others staying at the Obs.
A Great Northern
Diver seen flying west and a couple of flocks of Common Scoter totalling 34 birds.
At around 07:30 Swallows
were seen coming in from the sea and continued for most of the day. Personally,
I saw around 1000+ Swallows today and it was estimated that there could have
been up to 20,000 (maybe even more) Swallows
pass through Portland today on their journey north. A bit later House Martins started to arrive with
around several hundred seen, also several Sand
Martins still coming in.
We also had a Yellow
Wagtail, 3 Willow Warblers and a
Pied Flycatcher come in off the sea
looking rather exhausted but they made it!
A total of approximately 150 Bar-tailed Godwits passed the bill and a Whimbrel.
Other species were a Purple
Sandpiper, a Common Sandpiper, 2
Shelduck, and a Peregrine Falcon whilst sea watching.
On the land, there were a few Willow Warbler, Chiffchaffs,
Whitethroats and Blackcaps into double figures and up to
50 Wheatears, also saw a Redstart that was trapped and ringed.
Around 200 Swifts also seen throughout
the day making their way in.
Later in the day another Peregrine Falcon was seen, also a Hobby and a Grey Heron
late on.
At 19:25 we received a tweet about a Kentish Plover at Ferrybridge so we decided to shoot down to see it!
Also at Ferrybridge were Ringed Plover,
Dunlin, Sanderling, 3 Whimbrel,
a Curlew and a Red Knot, and a flock of 40 ish Bar-tailed Godwit flew over.
And so ended a quiet day at Portland!
Kentish Plover (courtesy Joe Stockwell)
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