The winds of Change

Mainly sunny, 20°, light WSW.

Finally, the wind and rain abated and produced a pleasant day for birding.

A morning’s sea-watch: 5 Arctic Skua, 50+ Kittiwake, a Yellow-legged Gull, 60+ Manx Shearwater, 100+ Balearic Shearwater, 60+ “Commic” Tern, 4 Arctic Tern, 2 Common Scoter, a Ringed Plover, a Curlew, a Whimbrel, numerous Gannet and several Oystercatcher.

VizMig and an afternoons walk: Barn Owl, Little Owl, 20+ Grey Wagtail, 30+ Yellow Wagtail, 3 Tree Pipit, 3 Meadow Pipit, a Pied Flycatcher, 4 Willow Warbler, 2 Chiffchaff, 2 Blackcap, a Common Whitethroat, a Sedge Warbler, 2 Whinchat, 3 Stonechat, 31 Wheatear, 4 Raven, a Sparrowhawk, Common Buzzard, a Common Snipe, 110+ Swallow, 30+ Sand Martin, 12 House Martin and 2 Swift.

Dragonflies: Migrant Hawker, Brown Hawker, Southern Hawker and Common Darter.

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

Moths: Convolvulus Hawkmoth and Hummingbird Hawkmoth.

Sun rise at the Obs

"Greenland" Wheatear courtesy Mark Cutts

 

Sea-watch saved the day

Sunny periods and rain showers, 19°, breezy SSW.

Another day of wind and rain with migratory land birds virtually non-existent.

A Tree Pipit, 2 Willow Warbler and a Firecrest that has been present in the garden for the last 5 days at least. A single Swallow and 3 Raven overhead.

The sea-watch was the saving grace of the day although we missed the Fea’s Petrel that was seen off the Bill when we were viewing from the Obs.

5 Arctic Skua, a Sooty Shearwater, a Cory’s Shearwater, 2 Manx Shearwater, 38 Balearic Shearwater, 5 Fulmar, 10+ Kittiwake, 2 Auk sp, 1 Common Scoter and 2 Whimbrel.

Dragonflies: Common Darter.

Butterflies: Large White, Red Admiral, Speckled Wood and Wall Brown.

Moths: Striped Hawkmoth, Hummingbird Hawkmoth and Gothic Beauty.

Blue-fin Tuna – at least one seen breaching.

Did not get any bird photos today due to the lack or distance of birds. so Moths will have to do as they were placid and nearby.

Another sunny one

Another sunny one, 14° (but seemed warmer) light E.

Usual procedure starts with a sea watch then loafing around the Obs for a while and then a walk about.

My totals for today but not in time order were: 16 Pomarine Skua, a Great White Egret, 7 Whimbrel, 16 Common Scoter, 10 Manx Shearwater, 5 Sandwich Tern, 14 Common/Arctic Tern, a Puffin, good numbers of Guillemot and Razorbill, 2 Lesser Whitethroat, 4 Common Whitethroat, 2 Blackcap, 4 Willow Warbler, a Whinchat, 10 Wheatear, 3 Yellow Wagtail, a White Wagtail, 4 Meadow Pipit, a Stonechat, 22 Swallow and 2 Swift.

Dragonflies: Large Red Damselfly and Broad-bodied Chaser.

Butterflies: same as yesterday.

The white line on the sea on the above photo is approx 1000 Gulls and the Gulls flying on the video below were spooked by a Pomarine Skua flying low and close to the cliffs. We saw the Gulls go up but did not know why until an observer came back and informed us what had happened. Pic and Vid courtesy Loren.

Portland: Day 6.

Sunny, 16°, light WNW.

Skipped a sea watch today as little appeared to be happening so concentrated more on the land.

Quite a good selection with a couple of reasonable figures.

Marsh Harrier, Common Buzzard, Sparrowhawk, 2 Kestrel, 2 Bar-tailed Godwit over, 1 Whimbrel, 100+ Meadow Pipit, 2 Tree Pipit, 1 Yellow Wagtail, 2 Grey Wagtail, 2 White Wagtail, 3 Wheatear, 2 Whinchat, 8 Stonechat, a Common Redstart, 1 Common Whitethroat, 2 Blackcap, 2 Willow Warbler, 17 Chiffchaff, 200+ Swallow, c40 House Martin and 26 Sand Martin.

Mammals: Red Fox & Grey Seal.

Dragonflies: Migrant Hawker & Common Darter.

Butterflies: Large White, Small White, Small Blue, Small Copper, Red Admiral, Painted Lady, Small Tortoiseshell, Speckled Wood & Small Heath.

Moths: Hummingbird Hawkmoth.

Good numbers of Blue-fin Tuna offshore.

Sunrise

Wheatear mid jump

Wheatear

Linnet

Stonechat (above & below)

Angle Shade Moth landed on my binoculars, Was not aware until I saw a fuzzy shape through them.

Day 8: Cold

A cloudy day with some afternoon rain, 7°, breezy WNW to E.

A bloody cold day with a bitty passage of migrants seen, the exception being Hirundines.

Swallow (100’s), House Martin (50+) and Sand Martin (10+) started around 09:30 and finished of around 14:00, give or take a few.

A sea-watch was non-existent for me other than an Arctic Skua and 28 Common Scoter plus the usuals.

Land: a Cuckoo flew from the garden at first light and may well have roosted there.

c30 Willow Warbler, 10+ Chiffchaff, 2 Common Whitethroat, 3 Blackcap, a Whinchat, a Tree Pipit, a Common Redstart, a Garden Warbler, a Reed Warbler, a Sedge Warbler, 2 Yellow Wagtail and a Whimbrel.

Redstart

Garden Warbler

Day 6: A slow day

Mainly cloudy, 10°, N, backing WSW.

A slow day with little on the sea and land.

Sea-watch: 17 Whimbrel, 1 Arctic Skua, 1 Great Skua (Bonxie), 1 Great Northern Diver, 7 Manx Shearwater, 1 Puffin, 2 Sandwich Tern plus many Guillemot, Razorbill, Gannet etc and c2000 Gulls feeding over the race.

Land: 1 Peregrine, 1 Barn Owl, 1 Grasshopper Warbler, 2 Common Whitethroat, good numbers of Willow Warbler and Chiffchaff, 1 Swift, several hundred Swallow, 30+ House Martin, 4 Sand Martin, 2 Wheatear, 2 Oystercatcher and 3-4 Purple Sandpiper.

Butterflies: Green-veined White and Orange Tip.

Purple Sandpiper 

Oystercatcher

Herring Gull

Day 5: A little quieter

Mainly cloudy, 10°, Light N.

A little chilly still.

Sea-watch: an on-off sea-watch today, 2 Shelduck, 1 Arctic Skua, 2 Arctic Tern, 2 Sandwich Tern, 30+ Whimbrel and 10 Bar-tailed Godwit etc.

Land: a Brambling (f), 16 Willow Warbler, 4 Chiffchaff, 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 2 Common Whitethroat, a Garden Warbler, a Pied Flycatcher, 2 Blackcap, 30+ Swallow, 3 Sand Martin, 2 House Martin and a high flying Hen Harrier in-off the sea.

A rather feisty Starling

Day 4: Rain stopped play

Cloudy then rain, 8°, light NNE.

Day started reasonably well then rain stopped play around 13:00.

Sea-watch: 67 Bar-tailed Godwit, 5 Knot, 2 Arctic Skua, 9 Whimbrel, 10 Common Scoter, 3 Red-throated Diver, 1 Great Northern Diver, numbers of Kittiwake, Guillemot, Razorbill, Gannet and several Sandwich Tern and Oystercatcher.

Land: Grasshopper Warbler, Sedge Warbler, Garden Warbler, Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Common Whitethroat, Common Redstart, Cuckoo, Swallow, Sand Martin and House Martin.

Razorbill

Swallow

Guillemot

Great Blackback Gull

Guillemot and a Razorbill

Oystercatcher

Day 2: Slow start

Sunny, 13°, light to breezy NE.

A bitty sea watch and a good day’s birding. Red-throated Diver, Great Northern Diver, a couple of Manx Shearwater, 2 Canada Geese, a Fulmar plus usual Auk species, Shag and Gannet.

On land: 2 Common Redstart, a Black Redstart, 3 Wheatear, a Whinchat, a Stonechat, 2 Lesser Whitethroat, several Blackcap, Chiffchaff and Willow Warbler, 20+ Swallow, 2 Little Owl, 3+ Raven and a Whimbrel.

Butterflies: Small White, Holly Blue and Red Admiral.

Lesser Whitethroat

Stonechat

2 Little Owl

2 of a flock of 18 Carrion Crow

Angle Shades

Portland & Abbotsbury

Cloudy at first then sunny, 18°, fresh WSW.

A sea-watch at Portland then a visit to Abbotsbury and a stop off at Ferrybridge on the return.

A breezy night with an electric storm at around 04:00, some rain then cloudy to start.

A 2 hour sea-watch produced a good number of Shearwaters and Skuas even though I missed the pick of the bunch of a Long-tailed Skua and Sooty Shearwater but I managed a few.

1 Great Skua, 8 Arctic Skua, c35 Balearic Shearwater, 1 Manx Shearwater, 20+ Kittiwake and 3 Common Scoter.

Overhead migration was minimal and only a few Chiffchaff and Blackcap were around the Obs garden.

Abbotsbury, apart from the feral birds the following noted: Bar-tailed Godwit, Whimbrel, Little Egret, Great Crested Grebe, Little Grebe, Teal, Shoveler, Tufted Duck, Pochard, Shelduck, Lapwing, Kingfisher, Swallow, Wheatear, Chiffchaff and Cetti’s Warbler.

As for others, a Whooper Swan, 2+ Wigeon, Bar-headed Goose, several Cinnamon Teal etc.

Ferrybridge: good numbers of Ringed Plover and Dunlin, a Bar-tailed Godwit, Little Stint, Knot and 2 Ruff.

Butterflies: Red Admiral & Speckled Wood.

Little Egret (above & below)

Kingfisher

Bar-tailed Godwit

Little Grebe

Lapwing

Fox Moth caterpillar (courtesy Loren)

Whooper Swan

Whooper Swan courtesy Loren

Whiplash Rove Beetle courtesy Loren

Last day

Cloudy with a thunderstorm mid-afternoon, 14°, light SE.

Portland

The day started off with a sea watch as usual with a single Arctic Skua passing thru, 1 Red-throated Diver, several Manx Shearwater, 3 Common Scoter and the usual.

Whilst sea watching we heard a call from above, a couple of us recognised the call and on looking up we saw 2 Bee-eater flying fairly high overhead. Unfortunately they turned south and flew out to sea and were not seen again.

A number of migrants incoming with some seen in the Obs garden were, 1 Wheatear, 2 Tree Pipit, 25+ Swallow, 2 Swift, 6 Spotted Flycatcher, 2 Willow Warbler, a Reed Warbler and a Blackcap.

Elsewhere in the bill area, a Whimbrel, 6 Turnstone, a Dunlin and 3 Oystercatcher.

A good week on Portland with a Woodchat Shrike, Hawfinch and Bee-eater the cream of 82 species seen.

Lunch

Thin cloud and sunny, 14°, light WSW.

Portland  

A seawatch today produced 1 Balearic Shearwater along with 20+ Manx Shearwater and an unusual (for this time of year) passage of 200+ Common Scoter plus the usual.

4000+ Gulls still feeding off the Bill, mainly Herring Gull so there must still be a quantity of fish out there for them.

On land a rather sparse passage of birds consisting of a Whimbrel, 2 Willow Warbler, 4+ Chiffchaff, a Blackcap, a Reed Warbler, 25+ Swallow and a House Martin.

A Corn Bunting and a Peregrine also noted.

Just after posting this a Little Owl was calling just outside our window at the Obs.  

Herring Gull taking lunch, courtesy Loren

Linnet bathing

Razorbill

Gannets

Greater Blackback Gull

Rock Pipit