11th October

A disappointingly low-key day, at least from the point of view of visible new arrivals, although a decent enough selection of lingerers did provide more than enough to keep the weekend visitors happy: 2 of yesterday's Grey Phalaropes remained off Chesil, a Yellow-browed Warbler was again reported from the Pennsylvania Castle area and the long staying Rose-coloured Starling at Reap Lane and Black Guillemot at Portland Harbour were both still on view; sadly, an early morning Ortolan Bunting over Weston that would have been the icing on the cake turned out to be just a fly-over. In between a few beefy post-dawn showers visible passage was very conspicuous at the Bill, where an impressive 500 Skylarks had 4 Woodlarks tagging along; a 90 minute sample count of the rest of the passage came up with totals that included 440 Meadow Pipits, 310 alba wagtails, 215 Linnets, 72 Swallows, 55 Goldfinches and 43 Chaffinches. In comparison, grounded migrants were relatively thinly spread: Stonechat and Reed Bunting were both at around the 25 mark at the Bill, single Firecrests were at the Obs and the RN Cemetery and single Great Spotted Woodpeckers at Easton and Southwell, but the likes of Blackcap, Chiffchaff and Goldcrest didn't feature in any quantity at all.

Clouded Yellows were still on the wing in some numbers, whilst immigrant moth numbers improved, with 48 Rusty-dot Pearl and 6 Delicate making up the lion's share of the overnight catch at the Obs.


Grey Wagtail - Southwell, 11th October 2014 © Pete Saunders