Bunk

Sunny, 26°, light to breezy SW.

A bit samey birdwise along the Bunk area: Little Ringed Plover and several Lapwing at the gravel pit plus a few Gulls.

3 Sand Martin feeding overhead along with Several Swallow (a few young on the wing) and House Martin and c30 Swift.

Usual Yellowhammer, Common Whitethroat, Blackcap and Chiffchaff.

A flock of c30 Starling at CSW.

Dragonflies: Common Blue Damsel and Hairy Dragonfly. A probable Norfolk Hawker near gravel pit briefly.

Butterflies: Large Skipper, Small Skipper, Large White, Small White, Common Blue, Holly Blue, Red Admiral, Painted Lady, Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock, Comma, Speckled Wood, Marbled White, Meadow Brown, Ringlet and Small Heath.

Moths: Scarlet Tiger and Hummingbird Hawkmoth in garden.

Lollingdon & The Lees and a Hummer

Sunny periods, 12°, breezy SW.

Lollingdon and The Lees:

Firstly a Hummingbird Hawkmoth in the garden this morning feeding on Rosemary flowers. A very early record for these parts, presumably over wintered nearby.

A flock of c200 Gulls (Lesser Blackback Gull) on the flood out at Lollingdon. Initially didn’t see any waders until a low flying Buzzard spooked the flock. Amongst the panicking Gulls I heard an Oystercatcher calling, then a Ringed Plover call and saw the bird fly off to the north. When the Gulls settled down the Oystercatcher was still present.

Also a single Common Gull present, 16 Black-headed Gull, 32 Lapwing flew in later and 2 male Peregrine overhead.

Fairly sure there was a Yellow-legged Gull in the mix but too distant to be confident of ID.

The Lees was a bit windswept but 2 Stonechat still present and feeding low on the fields, presumably out of the wind.

Elsewhere: 2 Chiffchaff, a Goldcrest, Meadow Pipit, 2 Yellowhammer and several Skylark.

A Grey Wagtail in the garden.

Mammals: Brown Hare & Roe Deer.

Moths: Hummingbird Hawkmoth.

Another wet one

Sunshine and showers, 17°, fresh SW.

Along the Bunk Line this afternoon and fortunately missed most of the rain with a thunder storm passing a few kilometres to the east, then another passing closer but to the west.

A Wheatear, 2 Yellow Wagtail, several Pied Wagtail, a Grey Wagtail, 3 Meadow Pipit, 16 Chiffchaff (incl 2 in garden), 2 Blackcap, a single Common Whitethroat, 2 Yellowhammer, 26 Swallow, 30 House Martin, a single Sand Martin, 3 Raven etc.

Dragonflies: A Common Blue Damsel and a Migrant Hawker.

Butterflies: few: Large and Small White, 6 Red Admiral, a Speckled Wood and a Meadow Brown.

Moths: Hummingbird Hawkmoth.

A wet one

Variable cloud and heavy showers, 16°, light to moderate S.

A trip out to Lollingdon and birding in between the rain showers.

Managed to cover most of the hill area: a Spotted Flycatcher, a Lesser Whitethroat, Blackcap, 6 Chiffchaff, 3 Yellow Wagtail overhead, 2 Wheatear, 2 Stonechat, a Whinchat, Raven etc and c50 Swallow and 6 House Martin over.

A few Geese flying over the garden early evening, 20+ Canada, 20+ Greylag and at least 1 Egyptian Goose.

Moths: Hummingbird Hawkmoth in garden.

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 

Pretty quiet

Rain at first then brightening, 19°, fresh SW.

Still windy after a wet start and not much going on. A patchy sea-watch and a couple of brief walks but very little of note.

A Willow Warbler, 1 Common Whitethroat, 1 Wheatear, a Grey Wagtail over and 7 Swallow and 9 Sand Martin. A Barn Owl late evening and a Grey Heron.

Sea-watch: 4 Balearic Shearwater, 2 Fulmar, 2 Common Scoter and a few Kittiwake along with good numbers of Gannet.

Mammals: Common Pipistrelle.  

Dragonflies: Migrant Hawker and Common Darter.

Butterflies: Large White, Small White, Common Blue, Red Admiral, Painted Lady, Speckled Wood, Wall Brown and Small Heath.

Moths: Hummingbird Hawkmoth.

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

Bunk

Sunny, 24°, light WSW.

Fairly quiet along the Bunk area today, a Ringed Plover heard calling and 4 Sand Martin and 20+ Swallow over. 9+ Chiffchaff, a Yellow Wagtail, 2 Jay, 2 Herring Gull at CSW, a few Lesser Blackback and Black-headed Gull overhead and a Sparrowhawk.

House Martins feeding a second brood along Church road.

Dragonflies: Common Blue Damsel, Migrant Hawker, Southern Hawker and Common Darter.

Butterflies: Large White, Small White, Common Blue, Holly Blue, Red Admiral, Comma, Peacock, Speckled Wood, Gatekeeper, Meadow Brown and Small Heath.

Moths: Hummingbird Hawkmoth.

Redstart

Sunny spells then clouding up, 25°, light WNW.

Lollingdon: The first Common Redstart of the autumn on the hill today, plus a Sedge Warbler, Chiffchaff, 2-3 Common Whitethroat and Blackcap. Nearby a Lesser Whitethroat, several more Chiffchaff, 5+ Yellowhammer and 3 Grey Heron.

A few Swift moving overhead.

The Marsh Harrier seen on Cholsey Hill again yesterday. Per GW. And a young Chiffchaff frequenting the garden over the last few days.

Mammals: Brown Hare, 2-3 Hedgehog and several Common Pipistrelle after dark in garden over the last week.

Dragonflies: Banded and Beautiful Demoiselle and a Southern Hawker.

Butterflies: Large White, Small White, Common Blue, Red Admiral, Comma, Peacock, Speckled Wood, Gatekeeper and Meadow Brown.

Moths: A Hummingbird Hawkmoth in garden yesterday.

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 nice start to September

Overcast and mild, 22°, light E.

Quite lively out at Lollingdon today. 2 Whinchat, a Wheatear, a Common Redstart, a Lesser Whitethroat, several Common Whitethroat and Blackcap, good numbers of Chiffchaff, a Spotted Flycatcher, 7 Yellow Wagtail, 12+ Mistle Thrush, a Sparrowhawk, 2 Kestrel, 5 Reed Bunting, 7 Corn Bunting and 12+ Yellowhammer.

Alan out earlier, Bunk line and Silly bridge. With several Swallow and House Martin, Common Whitethroat, Common Redstart, Wheatear etc. Alan also caught up with the Whinchat and Wheatear on the hill later in the day.

Nuthatch and Great-spotted Woodpecker in garden early morning with an impressive 50+ strong Tit flock.

Mammals: Brown Hare.

Dragonflies: Migrant Hawker & Common Darter.

Butterflies: 1 Brimstone, Large White, Small White, 1 Meadow Brown & 2 Speckled Wood.

Moths: Hummingbird Hawkmoth in garden again.

Insects: A Noon Fly: It lays it’s eggs in a cow pat and the egg will hatch within an hour of deposition. The larvae are carnivorous but the adult is a pollen feeder.

First 4 pics are of the Whinchats present: 2nd & 4th are courtesy Alan.

Noon Fly

Yellow Dung Fly, presumably with prey

Yellow Dung Fly