Sunday 29th September
An annual visit to Portland Bill had been pre-booked from today for 5 nights. My normal tempered excitement about a trip such as this was easily deflated by one look at the weather forecast for the 5 days, very strong west to NW winds with a storm front tomorrow afternoon but then staying windy but drying out until the end of the week. So pretty much the worst weather possible for any passerines. Seabirds might be a possibility but the storm front doesn't seem to originate from anywhere enticing enough to think there will be birds pushed into the coast. Having had the doom forecast, I reminded myself that being out birding in any weather is better than a lot of other options.
I left home around 7.30 and a good sign was my first 2 Redwings of autumn flew over calling as I was packing the car. I stopped at Blashford Lakes around 9am . It was very grey and a bit windy. Lots of Coot, Egyptian Geese, Wigeon, Shoveler, Tufted Duck, no Pochard, Eventually I found the Black-necked Grebe which had been previously reported here although it was at the back of the lake. There were still a decent number of Swallows, House Martins and a couple of Sand Martins hawking over the water.
From Blashford I decided to drive straight to Portland Bill, with the weather front closing in, it didn't seem worth another stop on-route I arrived just before midday and stood behind the obelisk at the point, trying to shelter from the increasing wind, I managed a sea-watch for nearly 2 hours although nothing special I did see c10 Balearic Shearwaters along with several Razorbills and Guillemots, Kittiwakes and Gannets.
By 2pm the weather had set in with a further increase in the wind with heavy rain so I settled in at the Observatory and managed to watch some football on my laptop.
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| From the hide over Ibsley Water, Blashford |
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| Sea-watching from behind the Obelisk |
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| Gannet |
Monday 30th September.
The routine for the next few days was set, up early and onto the obs patio with a coffee as dawn broke and spent the first couple of hours at least with a combination of vismig and sea-watching. The challenge with today was although the rain had eased a very strong NW wind persisted. The anticipation is that the strong sea conditions overnight would have blown in a significant number of decent sea-birds.... but disappointment ensued with measly totals of 19 Balearic Shearwaters, 17 Common Scoter and 2 Arctic Skuas.
I dis venture out a couple of times with walking around the island, at ties finding it difficult to stay upright into the battling wind which despite the wind there was still a large number of Swallows heading south with totals of c1200 and less than 100 House Martins and Meadow Pipits. A Little Owl showed well, sheltering in the quarry and a Merlin flew in off the sea and a single Wheatear on the coastal path were the only other notable birds.
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| Early morning watchpoint |
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| Little Owl |
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| Little Owl |
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| Wheatear |
Tuesday 1st October
A slight easing of the wind today increased the optimism that we might see something of note. The sea was less busy with only 6 Balearic Shearwaters, 4 Arctic Skuas and a surprise Cattle Egret flying in. The visible migration was much better with a steady stream of Meadow Pipits totalling over 1,500 and an increase in the number of grounded Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps and a steady stream of c50 Pied (Alba) Wagtails, with 3 Grey Wagtails. 2 more Wheatear were seen on my walks with 2 Yellow Wagtails and c500 Linnets. Hirundine numbers had dropped right off with only a handful of Swallows noted.
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| Dawn |
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| The working lighthouse at the bill |
A further shift in the winds to a more North East direction , and with the volume of rare birds arriving on the North East coast there was always hope. It started off quiet on both the sea and for vismig seeing 8 Balearic Shearwaters and just 2 Brent Geese, with a big increase again in hirundine numbers, this time mainly House Martins which were in the '000s. A walk produced a larger number of Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps, but on returning to the obs a report had come in of a Yellow-browed Warbler at the Thumb Lane Quarry, so I jumped in the car and went there, but with no luck , just plenty of Chiffchaffs, Blackcaps, but a surprise Garden Warbler. A Reed Warbler and a Firecrest, trapped at the obs were a marginal increase in variety but a day without any particular highlights.
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| Firecrest |
Thursday 3rd October
A shift in winds around starting North East moving around East and then to a South-Easterly was expected today and hopefully with that some change.
A quiet sea was countered by an increase in Vismig with a steady stream of Meadow Pipits and Alba Wagtails with counts of over 1800 and nearly 300 respectively. An early Hawfinch that flew straight towards us then veered off north calling was a hopeful sign, that ultimately was a false dawn of anything more, other than a calling Tree Pipit. I went with Ralph and Brenda to Thumb Lane again, and whilst a large number Chiffchaffs were again seen, nothing more to add. Arriving back at the Obs a report of a Yellow-browed Warbler in the garden turned out to be no more than a single call heard without any further sighting. A walk around the West cliffs produced no more than Stonechats, Skylarks, Linnets, Wheatear and Meadow Pipits although a constant stream of Swallows and House Martins continued to trickle through. A distant bird on a fence had us scratching our heads for a bit, partly because the light was poor but eventually we concluded it was a Whinchat.
Another day that started with hope and ended with blanks, at least the weather was ok.
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| Stonechat |
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| Goldcrest |
Friday 4th October.
Only a few hours this morning as I was heading home before lunch. As dawn broke this morning there were many more Robins around, but less in the way of Chiffchaffs. The sea was quiet other than for a movement of Auks and bird movements were generally fewer than previous days. A report of 2 Ring ouzels on the Top fields had us scrambling up there but the only reward was a Wheatear and 2 Whinchat.
85 Species for the 5 days is fairly poor return compared to my previous visits, still enjoyable and always better to be birding but hoping now that Scillies in a week will hold a bit more.
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| A final Wheatear |
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| Whinchat |
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| Whinchat |
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