Home & Away

Cloudy with a thunder storm mid-morning, 21°, light ESE.

Our final day at the Obs for this autumn and left around midday. A sea-watch early morning and then packing up to come home with a bit of birding in between.

2 Arctic Skua, a Red-throated Diver, c30 Balearic Shearwater, 2 Manx Shearwater, 3 Common Scoter, 2 Oystercatcher and c15 “Commic” Tern.

VizMig: c50 Yellow Wagtail, 5 Grey Wagtail, 10+ Swallow, 6 Sand Martin, 4 House Martin, a Swift, 4 Meadow Pipit, a Tree Pipit, plus 2 Sparrowhawk, a Chiffchaff, 4 Willow Warbler, 2 Wheatear and a Blackcap.

Dragonflies: Common Darter.

Butterflies: Red Admiral and Wall Brown.

Moths: Striped Hawkmoth, Convolvulus Hawkmoth, Hummingbird Hawkmoth, a Scar Bank Gem and a Latticed Heath.

A catchup from Tony Williams whilst I’ve been away.

Lollingdon Hill: 250+ Swallow and House Martin over.

Bunk area: Spotted Flycatcher, Lesser Whitethroat, Common Whitethroat, several Blackcap, and 4+ Chiffchaff.

5 House Martin, 3 Swift and a skein of c50 Canada Geese over Church Road this evening.

Sunrise

Convolvulus Hawkmoth

Latticed Heath courtesy John Lucas

Scar Bank Gem courtesy John Lucas

Tonight's partial Lunar Eclipse 

Rain stopped Play

Sunny spells at first then rain p.m., 19°, breezy SSW.

Rain stopped play after midday except for a brief interlude mid-afternoon when another sea-watch took place.

Very little in the way of migrants today, most caught by ringer s rather than observed in the field.

2 Tree Pipit, a Grasshopper Warbler, a Sedge Warbler, a Firecrest, 3 Willow Warbler, 2 Grey Wagtail, a Yellow Wagtail and a Wheatear.

Sea-watch: 2 Arctic Skua, 6 Balearic Shearwater, 20+ Manx Shearwater and 60+ Gannet.

Butterflies: Small White and Speckled Wood.

Moths: Possibly a record count of 10 Convolvulus Hawkmoth caught at the obs, 3Striped Hawkmoth, a Cosmopolitan and a Lilac Beauty, also a Hummingbird Hawkmoth buzzing around nicotinia during the dryish spells.

Tree Pipit

Firecrest

One of the young Robins at the obs coming for its meal worm breakfast

9 Convolvulus Hawkmoth (1 escaped) and a Striped Hawkmoth

Wind, Rain & Sun

Rain & Shine, 17°, strong WSW.

Squally rain showers and blustery winds put paid to any serious birding today but this is Portland and there were a few things noted.

A Pied Flycatcher appeared in one of the only two nets deployed today, ringed and released.

A Fircrest that was very elusive in the front garden, a Common Whitethroat nearby, a flyover Grey Wagtail and a few Willow Warbler was about it.

The sea fared no better with just a couple of Balearic Shearwater amongst the quantity of Gannet passing through.

Dragonflies: Common Darter.

Butterflies: Small White and Speckled Wood.

Moths: Hummingbird Hawkmoth, Convolvulus Hawkmoth, Striped Hawkmoth etc.

Hummingbird Hawkmoth courtesy Loren.

Common Darter

Hummingbird Hawkmoth

Pied Flycatcher

Speckled Wood

Convolvulus Hawkmoth

Portland: Day 4.

Mainly sunny, 17°, blustery WNW.

A more sedate day with birds difficult to find given the windy conditions.

Did not do much of a sea watch so only a few bits. 7 Manx Shearwater, 2 Balearic Shearwater, 4 Sandwich Tern, c20 Kittiwake, 1 Knot, etc.

Land: Long staying Marsh Harrier again, 2 Common Buzzard, 2 Raven, 2 Grey Wagtail, 1 Common Whitethroat, 2 Blackcap, 3 Chiffchaff, 1 Willow Warbler, 3 Tree Pipit, c30 Meadow Pipit, 6 Stonechat, 3 Whinchat and c20 Swallow.

Dragonflies: Emperor, Migrant Hawker and Common Darter.

Butterflies: Large White, Small White, Red Admiral, Painted Lady and Speckled Wood.

Whinchat

Stonechat (above & below)

A "flock" of Convolvulus Hawkmoth

Emperor

Portland: Day 2

Sunny spells, 18°, fresh W.

The day dawned with limited expectations, the sea was relatively quiet and overhead passage was fairly low.

At around 07:00 we started to see a small passage of Shearwaters and then by 07:30 it really kicked off.

The following are rough totals: c700 Great Shearwater (all within 30 minutes), in excess of 500 Manx Shearwater, c15 Balearic Shearwater and 4 Sooty Shearwater.

Plus, 3 Great Skua, 8 Arctic Skua, c50 Sandwich Tern, c20 Common/Arctic Tern, 4 Mediterranean Gull, 200+ Gannet, c30 Kittiwake and c20 Auk sp.

The sea movement petered out towards midday so attention focussed on land birds.

A Marsh Harrier, 3 Raven, a Little Owl, a Short-eared Owl (in, off the sea), a couple of Oystercatcher, 14 Grey Wagtail, 2 Yellow Wagtail, 15 Swallow, 2 House Martin, 5 Sand Martin, c40 Meadow Pipit, 1 Tree Pipit, 8 Wheatear, 3 Whinchat, 1 Stonechat, 1 Blackcap, 1 Common Whitethroat, several Chiffchaff, 2 Willow Warbler and 1 Firecrest.

A small pod of Common Dolphin offshore and a couple of Blue-fin Tuna sightings.

Dragonflies: Emperor and Common Darter.

Butterflies: Small White, Red Admiral, Painted Lady, Speckled Wood and Small Heath.

Sunrise

Firecrest

Convolvulus Hawk Moth

Marsh Harrier

Wheatear (above & below)

Raven

Little Owl

Painted Lady

Expectations not met

Overcast with some light rain showers, 20°, breezy NNE.

After some pre-dawn rain expectations were high for a fall of migrants but it did not materialise. As grounded migrants were hard to find. The sea-watch and overhead migration was rather protracted and petered out by midday.

10+ Chiffchaff, 3 Common Whitethroat, 1 Blackcap, 1 Sedge Warbler, 3 Wheatear, 1 Stonechat and 1 Whinchat.

Overhead: 30+ Meadow Pipit, 1 Tree Pipit, 3 Yellow Wagtail, 1 Grey Wagtail, 3 Siskin, c100 Swallow, 30+ House Martin, 30+ Sand Martin and the surprise of the morning with an Osprey flying out to sea.

Sea-watch: c60 Balearic Shearwater, 2 Arctic Skua, 7 Sandwich Tern, 2 Common Scoter,  a Dunlin and a Ringed Plover.

Fish: Bluefin Tuna.

Dragonflies: 1 Common Darter.

Butterflies: Small White, Red Admiral and Speckled Wood.

Moths: 2 more Convolvulus Hawkmoth and a Channel Island Pug to name a few.

If you don't get any photos you can always guarantee the Little Owl will pose.

Sunrise this morning

Convolvulus Hawkmoth

Channel Island Pug

Back to quiet

Hazy sunshine, 20°, breezy NE.

VizMig not a patch on yesterday with depleted numbers on all fronts.

A sea-watch produced 1 Arctic Skua, 1 Balearic Shearwater, 2 Common Scoter and 1 Mediterranean Gull as well as the usual Gannet etc.

Overhead, 5 Yellow Wagtail, 2 Grey Wagtail, 1 Tree Pipit, c30 Meadow Pipit, 8 Siskin, 20+ Swallow and 2 House Martin.

Grounded migrants consisted of 1 Goldcrest, 6 Chiffchaff, 3 Common Whitethroat, 5 Blackcap, 1 Whinchat, 1 Stonechat and 4 Wheatear. Plus ,a Grey Heron that has been around for a couple of days.

A couple of Oystercatcher heard and a Ringed Plover overhead late afternoon.

Mammals: Red Fox.

Dragonflies: Common Darter.

Butterflies: Small White, Common Blue, Red Admiral, Meadow Brown and Small Heath.

Moths: Convolvulus Hawkmoth.

Wheatear

Blackcap

Goldcrest

Convolvulus Hawkmoth (m&f)

Sunrise this morning

Barred Warbler +

Mainly sunny, 20°, light SSW.

A reasonable day starting with a short sea-watch that produced an Arctic Skua, 2 Mediterranean Gull, c20 Kittiwake and 6 Balearic Shearwater.

At around 08:20 a Barred Warbler was caught and duly ringed, photographed and released. The bird of the trip so far.

During the sea-watch and later there was an overhead movement of birds leaving. From what I noted: 27 Yellow Wagtail, 11 Grey Wagtail, 6 Tree Pipit, 100’s of Meadow Pipit, 35 Siskin, 20+ Swallow and 2 House Martin.

Other species noted: Sparrowhawk, 20+ Chiffchaff, 1 Willow Warbler, 4 Blackcap, 3 Common Whitethroat, 6 Wheatear, 5 Rock Pipit, Raven and Little Owl, etc.

(This is only my sightings and does not represent the full totals seen at Portland).

Dragonflies: Emperor, Migrant Hawker and Common Darter.

Butterflies: Large White, Small White, Common Blue, Brown Argus, Red Admiral, Speckled Wood, Meadow Brown and Small Heath. 

Moths: Convolvulus Hawkmoth and Hummingbird Hawkmoth.

Barred Warbler 

Convolvulus Hawkmoth

Cormorant

Rock Pipit

Wheatear

Common Whitethroat

Goldfinch

Sunrise this morning

A little quieter

Overcast, 16°, light to mod NNW.

An overcast and cooler day reflected by a lack of migrants.

Having said that day was made by a Barred Warbler found by John Lucas at Culverwell and a Turtle Dove that flew over and landed in the Crown Estate fields for a short time.

The sea was again exceptionally quiet with 2 Balearic Shearwater and 16 Common Scoter passing.

Just a few land migrants noted: A dawn movement of 10+ Yellow Wagtail, 14 Tree Pipit and a Grey Wagtail, a light but steady stream of Swallow with a few House Martin through the day, 1 Reed Warbler, 1 Grasshopper Warbler, 1 Whinchat, 2 Wheatear, 2 Blackcap, 4 Whitethroat and 10+ Willow Warbler.

Also seen: Sparrowhawk and a Grey Heron. A little excitement of a large raptor seen flying in off the sea only to turn out to be a Common Buzzard.

Butterflies: very few, Common Blue, Red Admiral, Painted Lady.

Other insects: Brown Bush Cricket and Great Green Bush Cricket, Old Lady (moth) and a Convolvulus Hawk Moth.

Swallows feeding young

 Convolvulus Hawk Moth

 Old Lady

 Grasshopper Warbler

 Brown Bush Cricket

Great Green Bush Cricket