23rd September

In lovely quiet conditions with plenty of migrants on offer it was disappointing that there were no additions to a rarity tally that consisted of just the lingering Wryneck at the Bill and the Black Guillemot in Portland Harbour. The Bill area came up with a busy mix on the ground and overhead that included 800 Meadow Pipits, 300 alba wagtails, 100 Chiffchaffs, 60 Blackcaps, 25 Stonechats and another as yet unquantified passage of hirundines; amongst the miscellany of lesser numbers there were signs of late autumn finch passage getting going, with Linnets building up on the ground and 5 Siskins and 2 Chaffinches overhead, whilst the fourth Great Spotted Woodpecker of the autumn was also trapped and ringed. Variety elsewhere included 2 Snipe over the centre of the island and 2 Kingfishers and singles of Wigeon and Golden Plover at Portland Harbour. The sea remained quiet, with 36 Common Scoter, 2 Brent Geese and a Balearic Shearwater the best off the Bill.

Apart from a thin scatter of Clouded Yellows everywhere immigrant lepidoptera weren't conspicuous, with next of nothing of note attracted to the moth-traps.