21st September

For the second time in the last few days pretty likely looking fall conditions didn't deliver, with the showers that passed by late in the night having little effect at all. Singles of Grasshopper Warbler and Firecrest at the Obs were welcome enough but about as good as it got on the land, where there were no more than tiny numbers of other grounded passerines; waders at Ferrybridge included 150 Ringed Plovers and a Grey Plover. With the wind freshening as a rain band passed through later in the morning sea interest picked up noticeably: 16 Common Scoter, 9 Balearic Shearwaters, 7 Arctic Skuas and a Sooty Shearwater passed through off the Bill, where there was also a visitor report of a passing Great Shearwater.

Immigrant moth activity remained at a fairly low level, with 4 Delicates and a Scarce Bordered Straw at the Obs, a Vestal at Sweethill and a White-speck at the Grove representing the best of the quality.

Yellow Wagtail - Portland Bill, 20th September 2015 © Roger Hewitt

Colour-ringed gulls haven't featured much of late, largely because we haven't come across any from unexpected locations; however, these two are worth a mention, as much because they were only a few yards apart in the field below Culverwell one day last week. Great Black-back 45N was from Le Havre, France, where it was ringed as a chick in June 2013; since being marked it has been sighted at Radipole Lake in October 2014 and was back at Le Havre in July this year:

Lesser Black-back B.VBA was from Orfordness, Suffolk, where it was ringed as a chick 18 years ago in July 1997 - it's sufficiently old that it's already on its second colour ring; apart from frequent breeding season sightings at or near Orfordness this bird has only been seen elsewhere during March and September 2008 when it was at Faro, Portugal (perhaps it winters further south in Africa?). Thanks to Gilles Le Guillou and Mike Marsh for these details.

20th September

A far too nice a day after a far too nice a night to have expected much in the way of grounded migrants - and expectations were pretty well spot on. The thin selection at the Bill included just Wheatear, Whinchat, Blackcap and Chiffchaff making it into double figures on the ground, where a lone Pied Flycatcher was about as good as it got in the quality stakes. Visible passage was also surprisingly subdued, with Siskins just topping 50 but no other counts worth a mention.

Immigrant moth numbers dropped away a little, with 2 Delicates at the Obs and a Convolvulus Hawk-moth at Sweethill providing the best of the quality.

19th September

A building anticyclone brought a return to summer on the weather front with wall-to-wall blazing sunshine and just the faintest waft of a breeze; despite these seemingly unfavourable conditions there was plenty to see even if quality wasn't really a feature. On the ground a small pulse of Goldcrests was evident in most patches of trees and there were signs of an overdue build-up in Linnet numbers, but other than example totals at the Bill of 15-30 of most of the other expected commoner migrants there was little else worth a mention beyond oddities that included 2 Green Sandpipers there. Although moving hirundines featured in good numbers everywhere, visible passage was perhaps more subdued than might have been hoped; 100 Yellow Wagtails over the Bill - where the autumn's first 2 Redpolls also passed through - was the only total worth singling out.

The immigrant moth situation changed very little, with 2 White-speck, a Scarce Bordered Straw and a Small Mottled Willow the only scarcities at the Obs. Elsewhere, 2 Convolvulus Hawk-moths were at Southwell, whilst a Square-spot Dart at West Grove Terrace constituted only the third Portland record of a species that could plausibly be in the course of getting established on the island.

 

 

Yellow Wagtail, Long-winged Conehead and Square-spot Dart - Portland Bill and the Grove, 19th September 2015 © Will Bown (Yellow Wag), Martin King (Long-winged Conehead) and Martin Cade (Square-spot Dart)

We're well aware that we've sadly neglected in recent months/years our formerly regular little features on ageing and sexing; this hasn't been intentional, but just reflects us digressing into all sorts of other areas that have taken our fancy. We still might dip into the backlog of photos that continues to accumulate but in the meanwhile we've been fortunate in recent days to tap into a run of Whinchats that are worth a look at. On the basis of the colour of the inside of the upper mandible - which is said to be a diagnostic ageing feature -  these four birds were all first-years, although you'd be hard pushed to be sure of that on field views; sex-wise, largely based on the tail pattern we have them down as a female (the top one) and three males:

18th September

Perhaps surprisingly bearing in mind the beefy showers that passed through in the final hour of an otherwise clear night it was considerably quieter today. Totals of 70 Wheatears, 40 Blackcaps, 25 Whitethroats and 20 Whinchats made up the bulk of the numbers on the ground at the Bill, where the long-staying Wryneck was the only oddity to make the list. The sky was also unaccountably quiet, with only relatively low double figure totals of wagtails, pipits and Siskins amongst the trickle of hirundines moving through. With the breeze set firmly offshore a lone Balearic Shearwater was the only minor highlight off the Bill.

Another single Red-veined Darter was in the Crown Estate Field at the Bill.

Cooler conditions limited the overnight moth catch, with 2 Scarce Bordered Straw and singles of Convolvulus Hawk-moth, Delicate and Small Mottled Willow the best of the immigrants at the Obs.

Wryneck - Portland Bill, 18th September 2015 © Nick Stantiford

 

And a few more night - and morning - sounds from Nick Hopper. It might seem as though this is all old news by the time we get some of the highlights uploaded here, but it should maybe be remembered that, at least in a UK context, this is a pretty novel study that as it's evolved has thrown up as many queries and conundrums as it has revelations about what's passing over the Bill at night - the few recordings we post here are just the tip of the icebeg when it comes to the amount of work that's gone into getting to this stage. Nick reports that the pick of the captures on the night of 10th/11th September was another flock of Arctic Terns; otherwise, a rather samey selection included a flock of Redshank, 3 groups of Ringed Plover, 2 Green Sandpipers, 2 Common Sandpipers, 2 Snipe, 3 Yellow Wagtails  and 5 Tree Pipits:
 

Overflying Yellow Wagtails (with alba wagtails in the clip that follows) were a constant feature after daybreak:
 

 

...whilst on the non-avian front a close Fox wasn't altogether unexpected:

17th September

Much improved conditions saw most of yesterday's migrants get away overnight but almost as many newcomers drop in. With it being relatively quiet both overhead and on the sea the day's legwork was mainly confined to getting amongst birds on the ground, where there were notable totals of 200 Wheatears, 50 Whitethroats and 40 Whinchats amongst a good spread at the Bill; less frequent migrants there included 3 Wrynecks (at least 1 of which looked to be a new individual) and singles of Hobby, Golden Plover, Woodlark and Firecrest, whilst elsewhere a Nightjar was a good autumn record at Barleycrates Lane. Very limited seawatching effort came up with singles of Balearic Shearwater and Arctic Skua through off the Bill.

A single Red-veined Darter was a Culverwell.

Nick Hopper's most recent sound recording visits have been getting more fruitful now that we've reached mid-autumn, with calls logged on the night of 9th/10th September that included a flock of Bar-tailed Godwits, a party of Knot, 2 Green Sandpipers, a Common Sandpiper, 5 Ringed Plover, 7 groups of Dunlin, a Sandwich Tern, 8 Tree Pipits, 3 Yellow Wagtails, 2 Spotted Flycatchers and 2 Grey Herons:

This apparent sequence of wing-beats followed by two calls recorded the night before required a lot of investigation but looks likely to refer to a Short-eared Owl pitching in near the recorder:

...and, as we'd mentioned before, Nick has taken to leaving the recorder running on into the morning, with the latest reward being last week's Little Bunting passing overhead on the morning of 9th:

16th September

Most certainly a day of two halves with an excellent morning's birding coming to an abrupt halt as at times epic quantities of rain completely washed out the afternoon. The presence of rain all morning not too far away in the Channel looked to be instrumental in interrupting the progress of active migrants that wouldn't ordinarily have grounded at the Bill, with a higher than usual proportion of adult birds identified both in the hand and in the field; a brief post-deluge ringing attempt at dusk also resulted in the capture of a notably heavy Blackcap (such birds rarely feature amongst the captures in the sub-optimal habitat at the Bill). With woefully inadequate coverage it was difficult to get a full handle on numbers at the Bill, but minima on the ground included 250 Wheatears, 75 each of Willow Warbler and Chiffchaff, 35 Whinchats, 25 Blackcaps, 15 Spotted Flycatchers, 8 Redstarts, 4 Wrynecks and 4 Grasshopper Warblers; singles of Cuckoo, Wood Warbler and Firecrest featured amongst a wide variety of other ones and twos. Visible passage overhead was also incompletely covered, with the totals of 1000 Swallows, 300 Meadow Pipits, 200 Siskins, 100 House Martins, 35 Yellow Wagtails and 20 Tree Pipits logged heading into the brisk north-easterly at the Bill likely falling well short of the true numbers on the move.

Overnight conditions weren't too bad for mothing, with decent numbers of immigrants making it into the Obs traps; the total of 77 Rush Veneers was a new high for the year, whilst 3 Scarce Bordered Straw and a White-speck were the best of the scarcer arrivals.

15th September

Yesterday's stormy conditions lasted on through the night and whilst doing nothing for passerine passage were more than fierce enough to wreck several noteworthy seabirds. Routine seabird passage was pretty hopeless, with no more than 7 Balearic Shearwaters and the autumn's first Red-throated Diver off the Bill, but a series of sightings of at least 2 Storm Petrels were of interest there, whilst another Storm Petrel and a Grey Phalarope lingered off Chesil Cove; an additional Storm Petrel was found dead at Chiswell. Although there was a general dearth of grounded migrants there were odd pockets of interest, with several Goldcrests scattered around sheltered spots everywhere, and singles of Firecrest and Coal Tit cropping up at Pennsylvania Castle. Once the dawn rain had cleared through a little visible passage got going, including 20 Siskins through over the Bill.

 

Grey Phalarope - Chesil Cove, 15th September 2015 © Martin Cade

14th September

The first really wildly windy day of the autumn, with a stiff south-easterly and rain through the night replaced by a blasting south-westerly through the daylight hours. Not surprisingly, most attention was given to the sea where although Gannets were moving through in force - including a sample count of 840 off the Bill in 2 hours during the morning - there wasn't too much else to show for the efforts, with 12 Balearic Shearwaters, 2 Manx Shearwaters, 2 Great Skuas and an Arctic Skua the best off the Bill. The land was far too blown out to have expected much of a return and there were no oddities found amongst the handful of common migrants logged at the Bill.

Ringed Plover - Ferrybridge, 14th September 2105 © Martin Cade

 

 And to finish off, some sounds from last week. Nick Hopper was with us for three nights mid-week and found it to be considerably busier than thus far this autumn; nocturnal highlights were Knot and Arctic Tern, whilst other migrants of interest included Sandwich Tern, 2 Common Snipe, Green Sandpiper, Dunlin, 3 Yellow Wagtails, 2 Robins, several Pied/Spotted Flycatchers (separating these two species is proving troublesome at the moment) and good numbers of Tree Pipits:
 

  

Nick has also got into the habit of leaving the recorder running well on into the morning and was rewarded with an Ortolan Bunting passing overhead on Wednesday - a day with no sightings/hearings of this species from the field birders!:

 

 

13th September

There was certainly some bafflement as to why today didn't come up with the goods: a seemingly perfect overnight mix of the New Moon, a pre-dawn rain shower and south-easterly winds created plenty of expectation but generated next to nothing by way of an arrival of routine migrants, with few species getting beyond single figure totals at the Bill. A Wryneck that showed up in Top Fields did provide some compensation but there wasn't anything else out of the ordinary on the ground and just a Golden Plover and a late Swift of note amongst the limited passage overhead. The sea was hardly any better with just 4 Balearic Shearwaters through off the Bill.

The immigrant moth situation continued to improve, with the overnight catch at the Obs including a year peak to date of 70 Rush Veneers; a single Latticed Heath was the scarcest immigrant there, whilst another Convolvulus Hawk-moth was the best of the catch at West Grove Terrace.

Wryneck and Latticed Heath - Portland Bill, 13th September 2015 © Mark Eggleton (Wryneck-top), Duncan Walbridge (Wryneck-bottom) and Martin Cade (Latticed Heath)

12th September

At least from the bird point of view a very disappointing day, with overnight rain dropping next to nothing by way of migrants and a brisk westerly wind not stirring up much on the sea. An Osprey that headed out to the south-west from Chesil Cove during the morning was easily the highlight; migrant interest on the ground included 40 Wheatears and 12 Whinchats at the Bill and 2 Little Stints, 2 Yellow-legged Gulls and a Knot at Ferrybridge but the likes of phylloscs were almost absent. At least 11 Balearic Shearwaters and a single Great Skua passed through/lingered off the Bill and another Great Skua passed over at Ferrybridge.

At least 3 Red-veined Darters were found in the Broadcroft BC reserve/Easton Fire Station area.

Immigrant moth interest picked up after this week's lull and included a conspicuous arrival of Rusty-dot Pearl (numbers of this species have been very low this year) with 21 logged from the Obs traps.

Red-veined Darters - Broadcroft BC reserve and Easton Fire Station, 12th September 2015 © Martin Cade

And a few migrants from the last couple of days; Yellow Wagtails at the Bill and Ferrybridge © Ted Pressey (settled) and Pete Saunders (flying): 

...Wheatear and Whinchat at the Bill © Tony Hovell (Wheatear) and Ted Pressey (Whinchat):

Also a Wall butterfly at Southwell ©  Tony Hovell:

 

11th September

Sadly, today was but a shadow of what anticipation and a south-easterly had suggested it might be, with a lot of legwork coming up with precious few rewards beyond the mundane. Numbers on the ground were particularly disappointing, with only Yellow Wagtail, Wheatear, Whinchat, Blackcap and Willow Warbler getting into double figures at the Bill; it was a tad busier overhead although, hirundines aside, it was only really the continuing flow of Siskins - including another 120 over the Bill - that saw the tally reach respectable proportions. Odds and ends through on the sea included 7 Balearic Shearwaters and 3 Arctic Skuas off the Bill.

We've run out of time this evening to post any of the nice selection of migrant photos passed to us today - they'll feature tomorrow.

10th September

Despite the lack of any useful cloud cover a reasonable little list was eventually garnered from today's efforts, amongst which the high points were an Ortolan Bunting that dropped in for a while on West Cliffs, a Coal Tit at Pennsylvania Castle and yet another Ruff at Ferrybridge. The majority of commoner migrants weren't particularly well represented, at least on the ground, with a total of 15 Whinchats one of the few worthwhile totals from the Bill area; 2 each of Short-eared Owl, Yellow-legged Gull and White Wagtail at the Bill, singles of Golden Plover and Greenshank at Ferrybridge and single Merlins at both these sites were of further note. Under sunny skies it was busier overhead, with hirundines passing through in quantity everywhere and both Yellow Wagtail and Siskin getting up to  the 50 mark at the Bill.

The immigrant moth total from the Obs traps fell below 10 for the first time in a long while, with several of that low total looking likely to be locally-reared progeny of earlier arrivals.

Ortolan Bunting, Ruff, Kestrel, Yellow-legged Gulls and Bordered Straw - Portland Bill and Ferrybridge, 10th September 2015 © Martin King (Ortolan and Kestrel), Pete Saunders (Ruff) and Martin Cade (Yellow-legged Gulls and Bordered Straw)

9th September

The high hopes generated by a heavily overcast dawn with not too distant showers running up the Channel looked to be evaporating after a relatively migrant-free couple of hours when proceedings were galvanised by news of a Little Bunting - Portland's earliest autumn record by more than a fortnight - at the Pulpit Bushes; sadly, its visit was all too brief and its next appearance - in flight over the Higher Lighthouse a little later - proved to be the last that was seen of it. A Hoopoe overhead at Blacknor was perhaps most likely to be the Bill bird of a couple of days ago relocating, whilst during the afternoon an Osprey headed rapidly south over the Bill. The common migrant situation wasn't quite as dire as first indications had suggested, but tracking things down was never easy in a pretty stiff easterly; noteworthy totals from the Bill included 20 Whinchats, 9 Spotted Flycatchers, 4 Pied Flycatchers and a Short-eared Owl. Six Balearic Shearwaters through off the Bill constituted the only worthwhile reports from the sea.

Immigrant moth interest was again very limited, with the totals of individuals from the Obs traps only just getting into double figures.

Little Bunting, Tree Pipit and Pied Flycatcher - Portland Bill, 9th September 2015 © Keith Pritchard (Little Bunting), Martin Cade (Tree Pipit) and Mark Rayment (Pied Flycatcher)

We haven't had a great deal to report lately from Nick Hopper's nocturnal recording sessions, as much because Nick's visits seem to have coincided with periods of fairly subdued passage; however, by all accounts last night saw a good deal more activity that we'll report on once Nick's finished running through the recordings. As a taster Nick's sent us through a couple of recordings from his last visit of what are turning out to be two of the most frequently logged species in this mid-autumn period:

8th September

More unbroken sunshine and a constantly freshening easterly wind weren't really a recipe for success on the ground, with the total of only 5 new migrants ringed all day at the Obs being an adequate reflection on the numbers everywhere. It did remain quite busy overhead, with 250 Siskins, 28 Yellow Wagtail, 11 Grey Wagtails, 6 Tree Pipits, 2 Snipe, a Short-eared Owl and plenty more hirundines through over the Bill and a Golden Plover over Blacknor the pick of a similar selection elsewhere. On the ground, most of the expected early September migrants put in appearances but there were few double figure totals in any of the areas covered and 9 Spotted Flycatchers at the Bill was the only total really worth a mention; less frequent migrants included 3 White Wagtails, a Kingfisher and a Grasshopper Warbler at the Bill and 2 Little Stints at Ferrybridge, whilst the season's first Brent Goose also passed through at Ferrybridge. Interest from the sea came in the form of singles of Balearic Shearwater, Arctic Skua and Puffin off the Bill.

Singles of Convolvulus Hawk-moth and Ni Moth at the Obs were best of a poor overnight catch of immigrant moths.

Siskin, White Wagtail, Little Stint, Bar-tailed Godwit, Spotted Flycatcher and Hummingbird Hawk-moth - Portland Bill and Ferrybridge, 8th September 2015 © Martin Cade (Siskins, White Wag and Ni), Pete Saunders (Little Stint and Barwit), Martin King (Spot Fly) and Mark Rayment (Hummingbird Hawk)

 

 Whilst you do hear all manner of stilted song from autumn migrants we can't actually recall ever having heard a Reed Warbler at this time of year. Yesterday one was giving snatches of quite passable song in the Obs garden, and at dawn today what was presumably the same individual in the same spot was trying it on again (we did see it and were able to confirm that it's a lingering ringed youngster); today its 'learning song' was much more hesitant and all but drowned out by the general dawn cacophony:

 

 

7th September

Another lovely day that was to a great extent saved from the birding point of view by the appearance of a Hoopoe that flew in off the sea near the Obs during the morning and was eventually refound late in the afternoon between the Higher Light and Privet Hedge. Both the Wryneck at the Pulpit Bushes and the Nightingale at the Obs Quarry also lingered on but migrant interest was largely limited to overflying hirundines and Siskins. Numbers on the ground were as thin as might have been expected in the conditions, with only Wheatear, Whitethroat, Blackcap and Willow Warbler getting into double figures at the Bill. Passing hirundines were an ever-present although unquantified feature at the Bill where a minimum of 210 Siskins also passed over (once again, many high-flying flocks were only heard and so couldn't be counted).

Immigrant butterflies increased conspicuously, with several Clouded Yellows of particular note at the Bill and active northbound passage of 5-10 Red Admirals per minute logged along the Causeway during the afternoon.

The overnight catch of immigrant moths was considerably poorer than of late, with singles of Marbled Yellow Pearl and Convolvulus Hawk-moth the best on offer at the Obs.

 

Hoopoe, Chiffchaff, Linnets, Red Underwing and Marbled Yellow Pearl - Portland Bill, Ferrybridge and Southwell, 7th September 2015 © Martin Cade (Hoopoe and Marbled Yellow Pearl), Martin King (Chiffchaff), Pete Saunders (Linnets) and Debby Saunders (Red Underwing)

6th September

A return of summer, with glorious warm sunshine from dawn 'til dusk - such conditions are often a dead loss for migrants but today saw a decent enough spread of birds to keep the weekend visitors more than entertained. Of the recent oddities only the Pulpit Bushes Wryneck looked to have remained overnight and in terms of local rarity a passing Long-tailed Skua off the Bill was by far the best of the day's newcomers. Commoner migrants were surprisingly well represented on the ground and, given the conditions, not so surprisingly well represented overhead: Siskins have been steadily increasing over recent day, so 180 through over the Bill (a minimum total since quite a flocks could be heard but not seen as they passed high overhead) wasn't unexpected; hirundines - including a good proportion of Sand Martins were also on the move in quantity, whilst 70 Yellow Wagtails were amongst the other visible migrants. Phylloscs dominated on the ground, with 80 Willow Warblers and 25 Chiffchaffs at the Bill, whilst the fair variety of other rountine fare included 2 White Wagtails and a Firecrest at the Bill and a Green Sandpiper at Weston. Additional to the skua, 2 Balearic Shearwaters also passed through off the Bill.

Knot and Convolvulus Hawk-moth - Ferrybridge and Portland Bill, 6th September 2015 © Debby Saunders (Knot) and Martin King (Convolvulus Hawk)

Also thanks to Martin King for a couple of photos of happenings on the water today; where once we gawped at the might of Britain's Royal Navy coming and going from Portland Harbour, these days it's cruise liners slipping in and out of the harbour that have become the familiar dawn and dusk sight from the Obs:

...and today saw the Cowes Classic powerboat race pass the Bill; the glamour days of the past when the Bill Common was opened up for car parking as thousands of visitors turned up to watch the spectacle of the Cinzano and Dry Martini boats jostle for position as they rounded the Bill are long gone and it's now rarely possible to even get two boats in the same frame:

5th September

After a few days with interest steadily building, today was something of a disappointment with no significant new arrivals. The trio of the Pulpit Bushes Wryneck, Obs Quarry Nightingale and Culverwell Barred Warbler were all still in residence to entertain weekend visitors, but the best of day's newcomers - singles of Turtle Dove and Firecrest at the Bill - were a division of two below these in quality. Most of the expected commoner migrants put in appearances but numbers were generally lower than yesterday, with the pick at the Bill being 55 Yellow Wagtails, 26 Siskins, 11 Grey Wagtails, 9 Tree Pipits, 4 Swifts and singles of Golden Plover and Greenshank overhead, 8 Whinchats, 3 Reed Warblers and singles of Whimbrel, Lesser Whitethroat and Pied Flycatcher on the ground and 2 Balearic Shearwaters through on the sea; elsewhere the Great Spotted Woodpecker was still at Southwell and 7 Knot, a Redshank and a Yellow-legged Gull were at Ferrybridge.

A Death's-head Hawk-moth found during the morning on a window beside the Obs patio was easily the moth highlight; routine immigrants in the traps at the Obs included 76 Dark Sword Grass, 38 Silver Y and 25 Rush Veneer, whilst scarcer species included 3 each of White-speck and Scarce Bordered Straw and a single Vestal there and singles of Olive-tree Pearl, Vestal, Convolvulus Hawk-moth, White-speck and Scarce Bordered Straw at Sweethill.

Death's-head Hawk-moth, Adonis Blue, Redshank, Sparrowhawk and Great Spotted Woodpecker - Portland Bill, Ferrybridge and Southwell, 5th September 2015 © Martin Cade (Death's-head Hawk), Keith Simpson (Adonis Blue) and Peter Saunders (Redshank, Sparrowhawk and Great Spotted Woodpecker)

4th September

A really enjoyable birding day with a good spread of common migrants nicely rounded off with a selection typical September oddities. A crack of dawn Ortolan Bunting over the Crown Estate Field and briefly settled at the Privet Hedge wasn't too unexpected given the continuing presence of the likes of the Wryneck at the Pulpit Bushes and the Barred Warbler at Culverwell; a Nightingale at the Obs Quarry seemed most likely to be a reappearance of the individual seen there from time to time in the last week or more, whilst reports of single Green Sandpipers at the Bill and Barleycrates Lane probably referred to the same individual. Routine migrants were patchily spread with, for example, a steady catch of phylloscs in the Obs garden but not a single bird netted close by in the Crown Estate Field; notable totals from around the Bill included 75 Willow Warblers, 50 Wheatears, 30 Whitethroats, 15 Chiffchaffs and 10 Blackcaps, whilst 60 Yellow Wagtails, 14 Siskins, 13 Tree Pipits, 4 Grey Wagtails and a late Swift were amongst the overhead passage there.

Unaccountably, immigrant moth interest was maintained at the Obs where the overnight catch was the best this week; it would appear that, despite very unsuitable conditions, immigrants are arriving on the coast but not then penetrating any further inland (garden traps elsewhere on Portland and apparently also elsewhere in south Dorset are attracting relatively few immigrants). The night's immigrant totals were 108 Dark Sword Grass, 69 Silver Y, 57 Rush Veneer, 24 Pearly Underwing, 7 Rusty-dot Pearl, 5 Scarce Bordered Straw, 3 Convolvulus Hawk-moth, 2 Diamond-back Moth, 2 White-speck and singles of Small Mottled Willow, Bordered Straw and Ni Moth; additionally, there was a conspicuous but unquantified increase in the likes of Angle Shades that likely referred to immigrants.

Barred Warbler - Portland Bill, 4th September 2015 © Simon Craft

3rd September

Samey conditions came up a samey migrant list, with the notable exception of a Barred Warbler discovered at Culverwell; the Wryneck lingering on at the Pulpit Bushes and an Osprey over Blacknor provided further scarcity interest. Numbers weren't a feature on the ground although there was a fair bit of variety, with the likes of singles of Great Spotted Woodpecker, Turtle Dove and Grasshopper Warbler of interest at the Bill, where common migrant totals included 50 Wheatears, 25 Willow Warblers and 10 Blackcaps. Overhead passage there was fairly subdued under heavy cloud cover but still included 24 Tree Pipits and 20 Yellow Wagtails.

The recent run of busy moth-traps continued, with the strong showing of immigrants at the Obs including totals of 49 Dark Sword Grass, 45 Silver Y and 32 Rush Veneer, along with scarcer visitors that included 4 Scarce Bordered Straw, 2 White-speck and singles of Vestal, Convolvulus Hawk-moth, Delicate, Bordered Straw and Small Mottled Willow.

2nd September

A north-westerly breeze and clear skies saw to it that there was a very autumnal chill in the air at dawn. Despite these unpromising conditions the day's tally wasn't too bad, with a reasonably varied list of routine migrants in small numbers as back-up for the Pulpit Bushes Wryneck that remained in situ. It was busiest overhead, with 61 Siskins, 50 Yellow Wagtails and 10 Tree Pipits through along with a steady movement of hirundines over the Bill and 27 Oystercatchers and 6 Redshanks through at Ferrybridge; grounded migrants weren't plentiful but included the likes of 7 Pied Flycatchers at the Bill and 17 Knot at Ferrybridge.

Unexpectedly good numbers of immigrant moths were again on the wing overnight, with the Obs moth-traps attracting 61 Dark Sword Grass and singles of Cosmopolitan and Ni Moth amongst a wide variety of other common and scarcer immigrants.

Convolvulus Hawk-moths - The Grove, 2nd September 2015 © Martin Cade

1st September

The first day of meteorological autumn it might have been but from the bird point of view it felt a lot like we were suddenly in mid-autumn, with the likes of White Wagtail, Blackcap, Chiffchaff, 'crests and Siskin appearing on the list. The Bill got the bulk of the day's coverage, as much because of the continuing presence of the Wryneck at the Pulpit Bushes, but it had been far too clear and moonlit a night to have expected much in the way of a fall; double figure totals on the ground and overhead included 50 Wheatears, 40 Yellow Wagtails, 25 Willow Warblers, 13 Siskins, 12 Tree Pipits and 10 each of Blackcap and Spotted Flycatcher, whilst singles of White Wagtail, Nightingale, Chiffchaff (the first presumed migrant as opposed to lingering summerer) and Firecrest were all of particular note. Noteworthy additions to the tally from elsewhere included an Osprey over Portland Harbour, singles of Knot and Greenshank at Ferrybridge and a Great Spotted Woodpecker and the autumn's first Goldcrest at Southwell.

By far and away the most exceptional report of the day related to a Beautiful Demoiselle Calopteryx virgo dragonfly seen but sadly not photographed at the Pulpit Bushes; this appears to the first report for the island although there are a couple of records of its congener, Banded Demoiselle C. splendens, which would seem on the face of it to be an equally unlikely vagrant.

Moth interest at the Obs was considerably greater than might have been expected given the apparently unsuitable overnight conditions, with several immigrants recorded in higher numbers than yesterday, including 68 Rush Veneer and 29 each of Dark Sword Grass and Silver Y; scarcer immigrants included 3 Vestal, 3 Small Mottled Willow, 2 each of Bordered Straw and Scarce Bordered Straw, a Diamond-spot Pearl Loxostege sticticalis and a Convolvulus Hawk-moth.