I regularly visit the excellent Portland Bird Observatory website with its daily bird/butterfly/moth updates. This morning they discovered a Grayling in one of their moth traps.
I just wondered why a Grayling would be wandering around Portland after dark (ooh err, that sounds a bit iffy already!
![Wink :wink:](./images/smilies/icon_wink.gif)
The species occurs on the island, but only very rarely appears in the vicinity of the Bird Obs area itself (and presumably this would refer to individuals disturbed by day). Is this just local dispersal? Or maybe a primary migrant from the continent? I've heard of Red Admirals coming to MV light, and assumed these were primary migrants, but never a Grayling. Are they occasionally recorded in odd places, maybe indicating a continental origin? Is Grayling known for post-breeding dispersal? My books don't seem to hold any answers. I'd always assumed that Graylings were a pretty static species, especially given the substantial number of recognised geographically-isolated subspecies occurring in Britain.
Thoughts please, anybody?
Have a peek at http://www.portlandbirdobs.org.uk/aa_latestnews.htm for the original account.
Cheers,
Gibster.