22nd October

Another day of reasonable visible passage but not over much in numbers on the ground. There were a few morsels of interest for the influx of weekend visitors to get amongst, with a Siberian Chiffchaff trapped and ringed at the Obs, 4 Yellow-browed Warblers scattered between the Obs and Easton, single Coal Tits at the Obs and Easton (neither seen well enough to be sure of subspecific identity) and 3 Dartford Warblers and the long-staying Hen Harrier at the Bill. Visible passage involved a similar range of species to yesterday but numbers were in most cases a little down; scarcities included 2 Merlins and 2 Short-eared Owls over the Bill. Very little was grounded for long at all, with distinctly low totals of the likes of warblers and Goldcrests in most of the areas of cover; 3 Ring Ouzels at the Bill and another at Avalanche Road were about as good as it got for less regulars. Ferrybridge came up with 18 Bar-tailed Godwits, 3 Grey Plovers, 2 Wigeon, a Golden Plover and a Sandwich Tern amongst the regulars, whilst seawatching at the Bill produced 8 Common Scoter, 3 Brent Geese and a Red-throated Diver.

With the exception of yet another Radford's Flame Shoulder at the Obs, overnight moth numbers dwindled; 11 Rusty-dot Pearl, 3 Rush Veneer, 2 each of Pearly Underwing and Clancy's Rustic, and singles of Diamond-back Moth and Dark Sword Grass made up the rest of the immigrant tally at the Obs.

Hen Harrier © Steve Carey stevecareybirdphotography, Grey Plovers © Pete Saunders, Dartford Warbler © Joe Stockwell Birdwatching South Dorset and Beyond and Siberian Chiffchaff: