I am currently sidelined from the turf due to an injury and what better tonic to hear that pal and all round nature guru Pete Alfrey was in town! A night at mine and then it was time to blitz Portland and spend some time at the bird observatory! The mild weather was producing some interesting moths with the odd rare bird thrown in!
Bird of the three day visit was a Pallas’s Warbler which I initially thought was a life bird but in the excitement I forgot about the bird that I saw whilst on a day trip to Dungeness on 8th November 2003! This was the second bird to feature in the Bird Observatory gardens within a few days. It was very elusive making brief appearances in the tree by the old book shop. Needless to say I failed to get pictures of the bird but I knew Pete would be quicker on the button and the above was a screen shot of the bird!
A Wryneck had been present at the observatory quarry for a couple of weeks and it did not disappoint showing well for both of us!
Time was spent trawling the coast-line of the island hoping for a swift to be patrolling the sheltered areas of the coast. The east coast of the country having had several Pallid Swifts, but we did not find one despite a concerted effort. A nice bonus was a Short Eared Owl that appeared from no-where during the skirmishes along the east coast!
A Wheatear was spied at Fancy’s Farm and a wing bar phyllosc escaped identification the eagle eyed Pinpoint having picked it up at distance!
Moth of the trip was an Egyptian Bollworm which was the eleventh record for Britain and the forth record for the PBO!
A couple of Crimson Speckled was on the island one made its way into a pot at the PBO and the other which was twitchable on the island.
There were good signs of migration with Brambling, Siskin, Redpoll, Meadow Pipit, Wood Pigeons and a Hawfinch which we missed! Gannet were numerous (500+/-) close in to the shore but a sea watch produced little else!
Stonechats were present in good numbers across the island with small groups moving around keeping an eye on us from the tops of bushes.
An evening session around Pensilvania castle produced a pair of Firecrest which were vocal but tricky to capture on camera.
The quieter periods were spent delving into the PBO moth trap basins with plenty of migrants taking advantage of the warm airflows. I have a stack of pictures which I am attempting to identify but failing that I’m sure Pete will remind me of the names of the moths I have forgotten!
On the way home I stopped off at Ferrybridge noting a dozen Brent Goose, just under two hundred Mediterranean Gulls, Dunlin, Ringed Plover, and half a dozen Bar-tailed Godwit.
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